The Chan sisters yesterday crashed out of the doubles at the China Open, while the poor doubles form of fellow Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strycova continued into a second week as the top seeds also exited in the second round.
Sixth seeds Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan were 5-1 up against Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara before their form deserted them and they fell to a 7-5, 6-4 defeat in 1 hour, 39 minutes on the hard courts in Beijing.
The Japanese duo saved 10 of the 14 break points they faced and converted six of 11 to oust the Taiwanese, who have claimed four titles this season, and advance to a quarter-final against second seeds Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic.
Photo: AFP
Earlier, Hsieh and Strycova fell to a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to unseeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine in 1 hour, 16 minutes.
The Taiwanese-Czech top seeds converted only one of the four break points they created and won only 42 percent of points of their second serve to continue their poor form heading to the season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen, China, later this month.
Following their defeat to the Chan sisters in the final of the Pan Pacific Open in Osaka, Japan, Hsieh and Strycova lost their opening match at the Wuhan Open last week and were replaced at the top of the Race to Shenzhen rankings by Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka.
The Chan sisters are fifth in the rankings, 335 points ahead of Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Demi Schuurs, who rallied to defeat Ekaterina Alexandrova and Katerina Siniakova 1-6, 6-3, 10-6 in their second-round clash yesterday.
The top eight pairings qualify for the tournament, which starts on Oct. 27.
In the men’s singles, an exhausted Andy Murray battled into a quarter-final for the first time in a year — and then immediately grabbed a snooze.
The former world No. 1 outlasted fellow Briton Cameron Norrie 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (4/7), 6-1 over nearly three grueling hours in hot and hazy Beijing.
The 32-year-old, now ranked a lowly 503, is to play top seed Dominic Thiem or Chinese wild-card Zhang Zhizhen in the last eight tomorrow.
On the mend after a career-saving hip operation in January, Murray looked all in afterward, and walked gingerly in and out of the post-match news conference.
Blowing out his cheeks several times, the three-time Grand Slam champion said that he had slept in the 90 minutes between his victory and talking to reporters.
“I’m tired, I just had a sleep before coming. I mean, I’m really tired,” he said.
To save his creaking body from more punishment, Murray said that he switched tactics in the deciding third set.
“I decided if I want to win I have to go and take risks and come to the net, try and finish the points quicker, which I did,” he said.
Murray on Tuesday defeated US Open semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini for his biggest scalp since his return to singles tennis in mid-August.
The hard-fought triumph over 69th-ranked Norrie means he reaches the last eight in singles on the ATP Tour for the first time since Shenzhen in September last year.
Murray showed several flashes of irritation as the first set against Norrie went to the tiebreak, chuntering away in the direction of his coaching team courtside.
However, he regained his composure and captured the set thanks to an untimely double fault by his compatriot.
The 24-year-old broke Murray’s serve in the sixth game of the second set and Murray was struggling, bending over between points with his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
He shook his head as he slumped red-faced in his seat at 5-2 down.
He displayed the battling qualities that took him to No. 1 in 2016 to somehow surge back, only to lose the second set on the tiebreak.
However, he somehow wrestled back the initiative in the decider, breaking Norrie’s first service game on the way to a trademark gritty victory.
Also into the quarter-finals was Russian fourth seed Karen Khachanov, a 7-6 (7/0), 7-6 (7/5) winner over France’s Jeremy Chardy.
In the women’s draw, 2017 US Open finalist Madison Keys was a surprise loser to unseeded fellow American Jennifer Brady.
Teenage US Open champion Bianca Andreescu reached the last 16 with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) victory over Belgium’s unseeded Elise Mertens.
JAPAN OPEN
Novak Djokovic yesterday stepped up a gear at the Japan Open, fending off a tough challenge from Japanese wild-card Go Soeda 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the quarter-finals.
The world No. 1 said that he had no problems with an injured shoulder that forced him out of the US Open as he looked to face French fifth-seed Lucas Pouille, who defeated Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1, 6-2, at the Ariake Colosseum, a venue for next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Djokovic was cruising to a victory until late in the second set when 35-year-old Soeda put on a tenacious fight while the Serb began missing many of his first serves, reducing his lead to 5-4 before Soeda made it 5-5.
However, Djokovic snapped back in form and took the final two games without giving a single point to the Japanese, ending the match in just more than 90 minutes.
“Obviously, I was pleased to get that done in two [sets],” Djokovic said. “We must give credit to Go Soeda, who played a really good match, fought hard, made me work for my win today.”
“For my side, I am really pleased. Probably I played even on a higher level than the first round. So the game is going to the right direction for sure,” he said.
Elsewhere in the tournament, third seed David Goffin of Belgium came from behind in a dramatic first-round victory against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 1-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-0.
Their grueling battle, the first match of the day, lasted more than two hours in blazing heat, as Goffin clung on to the match to take the second set that ended with a dramatic tiebreak.
After that, Carreno Busta could not find much left in himself and gave up the third set.
“It was a great fight. Such a tough opponent,” said Goffin, who is to face Denis Shapovalov of Canada. “In the end, I am happy to go to the second round.”
Australian qualifier John Millman defeated Adrian Mannarino of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
Jemimah Rodrigues on Thursday hit an unbeaten 127 as India pulled off a record chase of 339 against Australia to set up a Women’s World Cup final against South Africa. Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who hit 89, put on 167 runs for the third wicket as India won with nine balls and five wickets to spare at DY Patil Stadium, on the outskirts of Mumbai. The hosts finished on a total of 341-5 in reply to Australia’s impressive 338 and ensured there would be a new name on the 50-over trophy tomorrow. Amanjot Kaur hit the winning boundary to trigger wild celebrations
Jannik Sinner on Thursday eased past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 at the Paris Masters to set up a quarter-final clash with Ben Shelton, while reigning champion Alexander Zverev earned a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round. A maiden crown in the French capital would return Sinner to No. 1 in the world rankings after current incumbent Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock early exit at the hands of Britain’s Cameron Norrie. The Italian four-time Grand Slam champion is yet to drop a set in the tournament as he hones in on what would be a fifth title of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
RSS