Taiwanese No. 1 Lu Yen-hsun (盧彥勳) claimed the third ATP Tour doubles title of his career at the Chennai Open in India on Sunday.
Lu teamed up with England’s Jonathan Marray to defeat top seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and India’s Leander Paes 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) in 1 hour, 17 minutes.
The unseeded Taiwanese-English duo did not allow their opponents a single break-point opportunity in the final, while converting one of the two they created.
Klaasen and Paes were broken in their opening service game and they looked out of sorts early on, conceding the first set 3-6.
In the second set the No. 1 seeds upped the ante and pressed hard, but it was not enough and the set went to a tiebreak, with Lu and Marray going on the offensive to seal the victory.
It was Lu’s third ATP Tour doubles title and his second in Chennai after his victory in 2005 with Rainer Schuettler of Germany. His other title came in Bangkok in 2012 with Danai Udomchoke of Thailand.
Meanwhile, Marray has just one previous title, a Grand Slam victory — Wimbledon in 2012 with Denmark’s Frederik Nielsen.
Sheffield native Marray hailed the victory as a “perfect start” to his year.
“It’s always great fun playing with Rendy [Lu], and it is great to go to the Australian Open [next week] with some wins and some confidence,” Marray told Sheffield newspaper The Star.
“They went for broke and it really paid off for them today,” Paes told the ATP Tour Web site following the loss. “It’s been a great tournament for us. I really love playing with Raven.”
World No. 46 Lu is playing at the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand, this week ahead of the Australian Open and he faces world No. 59 Juan Monaco of Argentina in the first round of the singles on Centre Court today.
Lu is teaming up with Oliver Marach of Austria in the doubles.
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
RSS