Taiwanese sisters Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan had a set point in the first set and were 2-0 ahead in the second, but could convert neither chance as they fell to a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 defeat in the Family Circle Cup doubles final in Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday.
In a 57-minute first set against the Taiwanese sisters in rainy conditions, Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan overcame a set point at 5-4, deuce and eventually won it in a tiebreak. Then, down 2-0 in the second set, they reeled off six straight games to claim the title.
The Taiwanese duo saved nine of 13 break-point chances, but only converted two of nine to lose in 1 hour, 31 minutes.
“We were told it was going to rain and if we stopped we would have to come back on another court,” Shvedova told the WTA Tour Web site. “So we were happy to stay on the center court, even though it was raining in the beginning. I think the whole set it was drizzling, but we didn’t complain. We had to finish because I have a flight to catch later today.”
“We have been trying to play all year together and we feel like every tournament we’ve played, we’ve improved,” Medina Garrigues said. “In Australia, we didn’t play so well, but we kept going. In Indian Wells, we won one round. In Miami, we had match points in the quarter-finals and lost, and here we won the tournament. We are seeing that we are improving, so we are very happy.”
Medina Garrigues took a tumble at one point, falling over and getting covered in clay.
“It’s a tradition,” Shvedova told the tournament Web site. “She did the same thing yesterday, so she had to do it today, too.”
“It never happens to me where I fall over and I hit the ball, but here it did,” Medina Garrigues added.
The Chan sisters fell to 1-2 in WTA Tour doubles finals, with their victory coming in Shenzhen, China, in January last year.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
Taiwan yesterday defeated the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks’ farm team 5-1 in their final warm-up game ahead of their World Baseball Classic (WBC) Pool C opener. Taiwan’s bullpen used an unconventional rotation, with a different pitcher throwing each inning for the first seven innings. Together, they combined for eight strikeouts while allowing only four hits. The lone run surrendered came in the bottom of the eighth inning after a pitcher from Japan’s independent league took the mound. The pitching strategy was designed to preserve the arms of the Taiwanese ahead of their game against Australia at the Tokyo Dome tomorrow morning. Taiwanese-American Stuart Fairchild
RSS