Jamie Hampton of the US came from behind for the third day in a row to reach the semi-finals of the Brussels Open, beating second seed Roberta Vinci 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 on Friday.
After beating Belgians Yanina Wickmayer and Kirsten Flipkens in tense three-setters early in the week, the 68th-ranked Hampton again refused to crumble in the cold and wet conditions against the Italian.
The victory earned the 23-year-old her first premier event semi-final against Kaia Kanepi.
The Estonian beat seventh seed Varvara Lepchenko of the US 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4).
In the other semi-final, Romina Oprandi of Switzerland plays eighth seed Peng Shuai of China, the only seeded player left in the event.
STRASBOURG
AP, STRASBOURG, France
Third seed Alize Cornet will take on last year’s runner-up Lucie Hradecka in the final of the Strasbourg International.
France’s Cornet edged Canadian Eugenie Bouchard 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, while Hradecka of the Czech Republic rallied to beat Italian qualifier Flavia Pennetta 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 in Friday’s other semi-final.
Earlier on Friday, Pennetta dismissed Misaki Doi of Japan 7-5, 6-3, while Hradecka beat Johanna Larsson of Sweden 7-5, 6-3.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner and Kody Clemens homered on Wednesday as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 9-6 and clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs. Castellanos had three hits and scored three times. Bryson Stott also had three hits and Brandon Marsh drove in three runs for the Phillies, who on Monday claimed their first National League East title in 13 years. Coupled with the Milwaukee Brewers’ 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia secured the bye and home-field advantage in the NL Division Series. The Phillies owned the tiebreaker with the Brewers after winning the season series against the
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