Wimbledon champion Andy Murray battled to a four-hour 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 12-10 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber yesterday to reach the French Open fourth round.
The British seventh seed, who next faces Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco and was a semi-finalist in 2011, had been level at 7-7 with the German 28th seed when the match was halted on Saturday night.
When the pair reappeared, Murray squandered a match point at 9-8, but wrapped up the match in the 22nd game of the decider in a clash which featured 18 breaks of serve and 123 unforced errors.
It was the longest fifth set of Murray’s career and the first time he had been taken the full distance since defeating Verdasco in last year’s Wimbledon quarter-finals.
“Last night was tough for me as I did a lot of running, so under the circumstances we both played some good points. It was a pretty high standard,” he said.
The 30-year-old Verdasco, seeded 24, reached the fourth round for the first time since 2010 with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win over France’s 12th seed Richard Gasquet in another third-round tie held over from Saturday.
Verdasco said last year’s Wimbledon clash against Murray, where he won the first two sets, will have no bearing on today’s fourth-round showdown.
“Every match is different. You can’t compare a match in Wimbledon when he was playing home on grass with a match here in Paris,” Verdasco said. “And it doesn’t mean I’m going to win. Maybe he’s gonna win in three sets. All I’m saying is it’s a totally different match.”
Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych made the quarter-finals for the second time with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over the US’ 10th seed John Isner.
Berdych was a semi-finalist in 2010, beating Isner on the way in straight sets in the third round.
Isner was bidding to become the first US man to reach the quarter-finals in Paris since Andre Agassi in 2003, but he was out-served by 28-year-old Berdych, who hit 11 aces to his opponent’s seven.
“There were quick breaks in each of the sets. That’s something which really helps through all the match, especially with a guy like John. He likes to stay as close as possible, serving well. It’s a good thing to avoid playing the tiebreaks with him,” Berdych said.
Berdych will next face either fourth seed and 2009 champion Roger Federer or explosive Latvian Ernests Gulbis for a place in the semi-finals.
Federer is bidding to reach his 10th consecutive Roland Garros quarter-final.
Gulbis, who caused a stir after his third-round match when he said women should concentrate on raising families rather than playing tennis, is in the last 16 for the first time since he went to the quarter-finals in 2008.
He trails Federer 2-1 in career meetings, but defeated the Swiss star on clay in Rome four years ago.
Second seed Novak Djokovic, who needs a Roland Garros title to complete a career Grand Slam, takes a 11-5 winning record over French hope Jo-Wilfried Tsonga into his last-16 match.
Djokovic has reached the quarter-finals at the last 19 majors, a streak stretching back to Wimbledon in 2009.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
RSS