Three players from Taiwan will be battling it out in the first round of the singles competitions at the Australian Open tomorrow.
At least one Taiwanese is guaranteed a place in the second round of the women’s tournament after Hsieh Su-wei and Chan Yung-jan were drawn to meet each other in the first round.
Hsieh will have fond memories of Melbourne following her remarkable run to the fourth round last year. Having won three matches in qualifying to reach the main draw, she then beat No. 19 seed Sybille Bammer on her way to the best-ever performance by a Taiwanese player at a Grand Slam singles event.
The 23-year-old right-hander will also be buoyed by her victory in the final of the Sydney International women’s doubles on Friday when she teamed up with China’s Peng Shuai to breeze past France’s Nathalie Dechy and Australia’s Casey Dellacqua 6-0, 6-1. Hsieh and Peng’s triumph was all the more impressive as they did not drop a set during the tournament.
Chan’s build-up to the year’s first Grand Slam has been less impressive, losing to Elena Dementieva in straight sets in Auckland earlier this month and failing to make the main draw in Sydney last week after losing to world No. 125 Stephanie Dubois of Canada in qualifying.
In Chan’s favor going into her clash with Hsieh is her higher ranking (Chan is ranked 75, Hsieh 82) and her victory over her compatriot in their last meeting. The 19-year-old beat Hsieh 5-7, 7-6, 6-0 in Kaohsiung in 2006. On the only other occasion the two have met at a WTA event, Hsieh took the honors, winning 6-1, 6-2 in qualifying for the Australian Open earlier the same year.
Chan has yet to progress past the first round in Melbourne, having fallen at the first hurdle in 2007 and last year.
Dominika Cibulkova is likely to be waiting for Chan or Hsieh in round two. The Slovak world No. 19 is fresh from her Hopman Cup triumph where she teamed up with Dominik Hrbaty to take the mixed team title after beating Marat Safin and Dinara Safina of Russia in the final.
In the men’s singles, Taiwanese No. 1 Lu Yen-hsun will face world No. 89 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil. The two have yet to meet in an ATP event, but Lu has the edge in the rankings, currently placed No. 61.
Lu has had mixed fortunes in his preparations for Melbourne, losing two singles matches in the Hopman Cup at the beginning of the year, before forfeiting another because of injury.
However, he beat world No. 57 Steve Darcis in Auckland last week and took a set off top 20 player Nicolas Almagro before the Spaniard recovered to win in three sets.
Lu’s record in Melbourne is mediocre, having reached the second round only once in four attempts, but he is capable of rising to the big occasion, as evidenced by his defeat of world No. 4 Andy Murray at the Beijing Olympics last year.
Should Lu down Bellucci he faces the daunting prospect of a likely second-round clash with David Nalbandian of Argentina. The South American, ranked No. 11 in the world, was a semi-finalist in Melbourne in 2006 and reached the final at Wimbledon four years earlier.
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put
RSS