Taiwan’s Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching yesterday reached the second round of the Australian Open women’s doubles after two consecutive first-round defeats in tournaments this year.
The Chan sisters defeated Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia and Miyu Kato of Japan 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 in 1 hour, 40 minutes to advance to the next round.
The win was particularly uplifting for the sisters, who have had a disappointing start to the new season with first-round defeats at the Brisbane International and Hobart International earlier this month.
Photo: AP
The crucial moment in the match came in the first-set tiebreak, which the Chan sisters won 7-3, before running away with the second set 6-3.
In the women’s singles, 15-year-old prodigy Coco Gauff set up a blockbuster with defending champion Naomi Osaka, as a pumped-up Serena Williams took another step toward a record-equaling 24th Grand Slam title.
American Gauff, showing tenacity that is becoming her trademark, clawed her way back from a set down to beat veteran Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Gauff, who screamed and pumped her fists as she completed her victory, said that her “will to win” had got her through the tough second-round match at a windswept Melbourne Park.
Japan’s Osaka, 22, beat China’s Zheng Saisai 6-2, 6-4, but briefly lost her cool mid-match, hurling and kicking her racket when she gave up a break in the second set.
“I was thinking that I really don’t want to play a third set this time,” said Osaka, who is defending a Grand Slam title for the second time.
Former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, playing her final tournament before retiring, came from behind in both sets for a 7-5, 7-5 win over Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine.
Serena Williams shouted at the top of her lungs during a testing second set against 70th-ranked Tamara Zidansek, before seeing off break points to win 6-2, 6-3.
“She was a really good fighter — she did not just let me win,” said Serena Williams, who can equal Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24 Grand Slams if she lifts the trophy.
Earlier, Australian world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty raced through 6-1, 6-4 against Polona Hercog, buoying hopes of a first home winner since 1978.
On a day when men’s seeds tumbled, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic strode into the third round to be joined by Roger Federer, who dismissed Filip Krajinovic 6-1, 6-4, 6-1.
Djokovic also weathered the breeze — which followed heavy rain on Monday and smog from bushfires last week — to beat Japanese wild card Tatsuma Ito 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in 95 minutes.
Federer was barely detained by Krajinovic, the world No. 41, as he moved smoothly through in 92 minutes in the night match on Rod Laver Arena.
In other results, Petra Kvitova, last year’s runner-up, came through 7-5, 7-5 against Paula Badosa of Spain and China’s Zhang Shuai ousted American Caty McNally 6-2, 6-4.
Former US Open champion Marin Cilic won a five-setter against French seed Benoit Paire and one-time semi-finalist Milos Raonic beat Chile’s Christian Garin in straight sets.
American Tennys Sandgren, engulfed in controversy over his political views and right-wing links during his run to the 2018 quarter-finals, took the biggest scalp so far when he ousted eighth seed Matteo Berrettini in five sets.
The US’ Tommy Paul also pulled off a five-set upset when he beat Bulgarian 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (10/3).
Australia’s John Millman further trimmed the number of high-ranked players when he ended the campaign of 31st seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland.
However, Greek sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a slice of fortune when Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew injured.
Among eight first-round matches held over from Tuesday, after rain wiped out half of Monday’s schedule, Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro, also retiring this year, upset Belarusian 11th seed Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets.
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
With a hat-trick on Wednesday, Victor Osimhen moved atop the UEFA Champions League scoring table, with the Nigeria striker netting all three goals in Galatasaray’s 3-0 victory over Ajax in Amsterdam. Osimhen moved to six goals this season in Europe’s elite club competition, one more than Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland. The Istanbul club signed Osimhen to a permanent deal from SSC Napoli in the summer for a record transfer fee in the Turkish League reportedly worth US$86 million. The 26-year-old striker needed less than 20 minutes to complete his first hat-trick in the competition. He headed in the opener in the
An amateur soccer league organized by farmers, students and factory workers in rural China has unexpectedly drawn millions of fans and inspired big cities to form their own, raising hopes China can grow talent from the ground up and finally become a global force. The nation of 1.4 billion people has about 200 million soccer fans, more than any other country, but it has failed to build world-class teams, partly due to a top-down approach where clubs pick players from a very small pool of prescreened candidates. The professional game is marred by a history of fixed matches, corruption, and dismal performances,
Amanda Anisimova on Wednesday pulled off a stellar comeback to get the better of Iga Swiatek 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-2 and book her spot in the last four of the WTA Finals in Riyadh, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei won in the doubles at the women’s year-ending event. Making her tournament debut this week, the fourth-seeded Anisimova secured the runner-up spot in the Serena Williams Group behind Elena Rybakina. Rybakina completed round-robin play with a perfect 3-0 record, thanks to a 6-4, 6-4 success against Russian alternate Ekaterina Alexandrova earlier in the day. Anisimova improved her three-set record this season to an impressive
RSS