Taiwan’s Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching clinched the women’s doubles title at the Qatar Open in Doha on Saturday, defeating Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands 2-1.
The Chan sisters eased through the first set against their fourth-seeded rivals 6-1.
In the second set, Groenefeld and Schuurs put up more of a fight and topped the Taiwanese duo 3-6, forcing a super tie-break.
Photo: Reuters
The sisters eventually won the super tie-break 10-6 to claim the women’s doubles title.
This victory marked the Chan sisters’ second women’s doubles title of this season after they won the title at the Hobart International in Sydney, Australia, in January.
It marked the 14th women’s doubles championship of their career and their second women’s doubles title in Doha after first winning the Qatar Open in 2016.
WOMEN’S SINGLES FINAL
Reuters, DOHA
Belgium’s Elise Mertens rallied from a set down at the Qatar Open to beat top seed Simona Halep 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 and clinch her first Premier-level title.
After both players dropped their opening service game, Halep took control of the encounter by winning 18 consecutive points from 3-3 to clinch the first set.
World No. 3 Halep grabbed an early break in the second set, but Mertens responded immediately to get the match back on serve.
Unseeded Mertens held her nerve to fend off two break points in the seventh game before she broke Halep’s serve to love en route to claiming her first set in six played against the Romanian.
With momentum firmly on her side, Mertens claimed a crucial early break in the deciding set and went on to hold off a late Halep surge to win her fifth WTA title.
Mertens, ranked No. 21 in the world, recorded three top-10 victories in Doha this week, also beating Kiki Bertens and Angelique Kerber in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively.
The 23-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough season last year, winning three titles, and has since maintained her steady progress on the WTA tour.
Halep, who last weekend helped Romania to their first-ever Fed Cup semi-final, struggled physically in the closing stages and needed medical assistance for her right foot.
“Honestly, I wanted to lift this beautiful trophy, but Elise deserved it very much,” said Halep, who won the Doha Open women’s single title in 2014.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
RSS