Chang Kai-chen beat Chuang Chia-jung 6-2, 6-1 in an all-Taiwanese first round clash on the second day of the OEC Taipei Ladies Open at the Taipei Arena yesterday evening.
Chang’s victory was no surprise, as the No. 7 seed made light work of her wild-card opponent, a doubles specialist who doesn’t even have a singles ranking. Chang now faces a showdown with another Taiwanese, Hsieh Su-wei, who beat Kristina Mladenovic on Monday.
Two other home players lost yesterday. Fourth seed Ayumi Morita of Japan was too good for Juan Ting-fei, downing the qualifier 6-2, 6-2, while fifth seed Peng Shuai of China disposed of Hsu Wen-hsin 6-2, 7-6(4).
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Top seed Jarmila Groth had a straightforward 6-2, 6-3 workout against US qualifier Yasmin Schnack. The Aussie has yet to lose a singles match in Taipei, having won the tournament in 2008 before missing last year’s event through injury.
It was a good day for Thai players as Tamarine Tanasugarn and Noppawan Lertcheewakarn breezed through their matches earlier in the day.
No. 2 seed Tamarine had few problems in her 6-2, 6-1 victory over Liu Shaozhuo of China, showing the kind of form that saw her win the WTA tournament in Osaka last month. The veteran always looked in control, taking the world No. 459 apart with some precise shots and serving three aces to boot.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Ksenia Lykina had a day to forget against Noppawan, failing to hold her serve even once as the 18-year-old Thai won 6-1, 6-1.
Next up for the 2008 ITF Junior World Champion and last year’s Wimbledon junior singles champion is promising teenager Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia, who brought Indian star Sania Mirza’s run to a premature end with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.
There was one surprise yesterday as 332nd ranked Chinese player Wang Qiang thrashed sixth-seeded Australian Alicia Molik 6-2, 6-0.
Madalina Gojnea of Romania beat Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 in a hard-fought contest in the first match on court one. In the first set Diyas demonstrated that her victory over world No. 7 Jelena Jankovic in Moscow last month was no fluke, subjecting Gojnea to an impressive display of hitting. However, the resilient Romanian bounced back, pulling out some spectacular shots to send her 17-year-old opponent packing.
In yesterday’s other matches Yan Zi of China beat Han Sung-hee of South Korea 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, Japan’s Kumiko Iijima downed Indonesian Jessy Rompies 6-4, 6-2 and Zhang Ling of Hong Kong defeated Yumi Nakano of Japan 6-0, 6-3.
SWISS INDOORS
AFP, BASEL, SWITZERLAND
Roger Federer made an imposing start on his hometown stage, with the top seed advancing unhindered into the second round of the Swiss Indoors on Monday when his opponent retired with an ankle injury.
World No. 2 Federer was in total command against 48th-ranked Aleksandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine leading 6-4, 5-2 and serving for the match.
However, the youngster’s tumble on the hardcourt as he pulled level at 15-15 brought about an abrupt end after 48 minutes as Dolgopolov hurt his right ankle.
A pair of trainers were brought out to the side of the court at the St Jakobshalle, but after a few minutes of grimacing and medical analysis, it looked like season done for the challenger.
Federer quietly accepted the applause from the public at the event where he got his start in the game as a ballboy, happy to leave with nine aces and three breaks of serve.
In nine service games he allowed just four points, hammering 21 winners. While lauding Dolgopolov as a future talent — “someone we need for the future” — Federer did not hesitate to add: “I really want to win my home tournament for the fourth time. I have so many great memories from here.”
American eighth seed John Isner staged a comeback over Frenchman Michael Llodra 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 while Dutch qualifier Robin Haase put out Swiss wild card Stephane Bohli 6-4, 6-3 in the week’s first match.
VALENCIA OPEN
AP, VALENCIA, SPAIN
Spain’s Fernando Verdasco delighted the home crowd at the Valencia Open with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Michael Russell in the first round.
Verdasco, who won the tournament in 2004 when it was played on clay, broke the US qualifier five times on the hard indoor court at the City of Arts and Sciences.
The third-seeded Spaniard snapped a four-match losing streak and got his bid to qualify for the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals back on track in the process.
Verdasco will play Giles Simon next after the Frenchman got past Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 6-3.
Stanislas Wawrinka came through a tough match with Andreas Seppi, winning 7-6 (2), 7-5 to join Verdasco in the second round, while Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia also progressed with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Arnaud Clement.
Clement hit 20 unforced errors in the first set alone to trail before Gabashvili broke early in the second. The sluggish Frenchman couldn’t answer Gabashvili’s backhand and was broken again in the seventh game.
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
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