Top seeds Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Peng Shuai of China eased into the quarter-finals of the French Open women’s doubles with a comfortable 6-0, 6-2 victory over 15th-seeded US duo Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond in Paris yesterday.
The cross-strait pairing converted five of eight break-point chances against none of three for their opponents to oust the Americans in an hour on Court 1 at Roland Garros and set up a quarter-final clash with either fifth seeds Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Sania Mirza of India or Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic and Alisa Kleybanova of Russia, who were playing later yesterday.
On Saturday, French wild-cards Julie Coin and Pauline Parmentier caused the first major upset in the women’s doubles when they knocked out defending champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the second round.
Photo taken from Hsieh Su-wei’s Facebook page
On their two previous appearances at their home Grand Slam, Parmentier and Coin had never been beyond the second round, but buoyed by a partisan crowd on Court 3, they ran out 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 winners over the third-seeded Russian duo.
Makarova and Vesnina were not the only big name casualties, as six-seeded US duo Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears also suffered a surprise second-round loss, failing to capitalize on a bright start as they were beaten 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 by Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu and Karin Knapp of Italy.
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
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
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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