Hsieh Su-wei was eyeing a second doubles title of the season after the Taiwanese world No. 1 and her partner, world No. 2 Barbora Strycova, on Friday sealed a spot in the doubles final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The top seeds and defending champions defeated fourth seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Zhang Shuai of China 7-5, 6-3 in 1 hour, 22 minutes on the hard courts in the United Arab Emirates to advance to their third final of the season.
The Taiwanese-Czech duo saved three of eight break points and converted seven of 10, winning 71 percent of their second return points to improve their season record to 12-1, their only loss being in the final of the Australia Open in Melbourne last month.
Photo: AFP
“It was a good match,” Strycova told the WTA Web site. “I think it was a lot of ups and downs. Both teams were losing, in the second set, our serves, but my partner served it out, which is great, and I’m very happy to be back in the final.”
Hsieh and Strycova are looking to land their second title of the season after triumphing in Brisbane, Australia, last month.
They were due to take on Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Zheng Saisai of China, after the fifth seeds cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over unseeded Americans Desirae Krawczyk and Alison Riske in 63 minutes.
“We know them both very well, but we haven’t played them before as a pair,” Strycova told the WTA Web site. “It’s going to be interesting, it’s going to be a very tough match, because they were beating very good teams. Just to say, we are very happy to be back in the final and can’t wait until tomorrow [Saturday].”
In the singles, Simona Halep pounded out a 6-2, 6-0 defeat of US qualifier Jennifer Brady to move into a second career final.
The top seed and world No. 2 is to face Elena Rybakina after the Kazakh defeated Petra Martic 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/2) in their earlier semi-final.
“It felt much better than previous matches, I played really well,” said Halep after a 62-minute win which followed having to come back from a set down in both of her previous matches.
“Everything went in, I felt the ball great. I feel like I played the best match since I came here,” she said.
Rybakina is now into her fourth final from five tournaments.
The Kazakh, who has now won a WTA-leading 19 matches this year, took two and a quarter hours to outlast her more experienced Croatian opponent Martic, who led 3-0 in the second set.
Rybakina won the Hobart title last month and finished runner-up in Shenzhen, China, and St Petersburg, Russia.
Halep retired in her only previous match with Rybakina in the third round in Wuhan, China, in September last year.
“I’m playing for another trophy, so I’m relaxed. I’m focused. I really want it,” said Halep, who will be bidding for a 20th career title today. “Playing here in Dubai makes me happy on court, I actually feel like every day I’m improving,” Halep said.
After a modest season last year, the 20-year-old has Rybakina has improved 150 places to 19th in the rankings.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “Hopefully, I can continue to play like this and next year also.”
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
RSS