Taiwanese qualifier Chang Kai-chen certainly rode her luck at the Guangzhou Open yesterday, grabbing a place in the first round as a lucky loser and then seeing her opponent, top seed Marion Bartoli of France, retire with a gastrointestinal illness when the Frenchwoman was 4-3 down in the first set.
That allowed Chang to advance to the second round, where she is set to face fellow Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei, who defeated Nina Bratchikova of Russia 7-5, 6-3.
However, Chang’s good fortune did not rub off on fellow Taiwanese Chan Yung-jan, who retired from her match after feeling dizzy when 5-3 down to second seed Zheng Jie of China.
Eighth seed Alize Cornet had built a 6-3, 1-1 lead before Alexandra Panova stopped play because of a heat-related illness.
Mathilde Johansson of France upset sixth seed Monica Niculescu of Romanina 7-5, 6-2. The 27-year-old Johansson won despite 12 double-faults.
Third seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania defeated Chinese qualifier Hu Yue-yue 6-2, 7-5, despite dropping serve four times, while fourth seed Urszula Radwanska of Poland beat Melinda Czink of Hungary 7-6 (7-1), 6-2 and seventh seed Peng Shuai advanced with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-0 victory over Ayumi Morita.
Belarussian Olga Govortsova defeated qualifier Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-2; Nudnina Luangnam of Thailand beat Australia’s Jarmila Gajdosova 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-2; wild-card Zheng Saisai edged Julia Cohen of the US 7-6 (7/1), 7-5; and Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum, who beat Chang in the final qualifying round on Monday, was beaten 6-2, 6-1 by Chinese wild-card Duan Ying-ying.
KOREA OPEN
Staff writer, with AP, SEOUL
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki reached the second round of the Korea Open by beating Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-2 yesterday.
Qualifier Jamie Hampton of the US also advanced, defeating Romina Oprandi of Switzerland 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, while Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain beat Sesil Karatantcheva of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-4.
Third seed Kaia Kanepi of Estonia cruised past wild-card Han Sung-hee 6-1, 6-0, while fifth seed Julia Georges of Germany fell at the first hurdle, beaten 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 by Spain’s Silvia Soler-Espinosa.
Sixth seed Varvara Lepchenko of the US defeated Italy’s Camila Giorgi 6-2 7-6 (7/1), while No. 7 seed Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic had to work hard to dispose of Spain’s Garbine Muguruza 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(7/1) and eighth seed Ekaterina Makarova of Russia beat Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-4, 6-1.
Veterans Kimiko Date-Krumm and Vania King both fell at the first hurdle, Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia defeating Japan’s Date-Krumm 6-4, 6-3, while Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands beat King of the US 6-3, 6-1.
Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva beat wild-card Hong Hyun-hui 6-1, 6-2, while qualifier Caroline Garcia of France advanced after defeating Romania’s Alexandra Cadantu 6-2, 6-3.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to