Taiwan’s Jimmy Wang made short work of his Japanese opponent to win his first-round match at the OEC Kaohsiung ATP Challenger in straight sets yesterday.
The No. 8 seed beat qualifier Toshihide Matsui 6-1, 6-4 in 1 hour, 13 minutes to set up a clash with another Japanese, Hiroki Moriya, who beat Taiwanese Davis Cup player Chen Ti 6-3, 6-3.
VETERAN
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
Wang dominated his contest against the 35-year-old, 458th-ranked Japanese veteran, holding his serve throughout and winning an impressive 92 percent of points on his first serve.
Another Taiwanese, Huang Lia-chi, was leading Na Jung-woon 6-0, 4-2 when his South Korean opponent retired. Top seed Lu Yen-hsun is due to face Huang today.
Meanwhile Yang Tsung-hua beat fellow Taiwanese wild-card Wang Chieh-fu 7-5, 6-4.
All the seeded players in action yesterday made it safely into round two.
SECOND SEED
Second seed Jack Sock of the US, the world No. 88, beat New Zealand No.1 and world No. 295, Jose Rubin Statham 6-4, 6-2.
No. 6 seed Matthew Ebden of Australia defeated another New Zealander, Michael Venus, while fourth seed Alejandro Gonzalez of Colombia downed South Korean qualifier Chung Hyeon 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
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
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,