Taiwanese sisters Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan survived a dramatic rally by Switzerland’s Martina Hingis and Flavia Pennetta of Italy to win the women’s doubles title at the Aegon International in Eastbourne, England, on Saturday.
The Chan sisters looked to be cruising to the title when they raced into a 6-3, 5-1 lead, but Hingis and Pennetta had other ideas, fending off three match points in the next game and then another at 5-4, before pinching the second set when Chan Hao-ching’s forehand found the net.
The Taiwanese duo regrouped impressively in the deciding super tiebreak to run out 6-3, 5-7, 10-5 winners in 1 hour, 35 minutes. They saved 11 of 16 break-point chances and converted five of nine to ensure they start their Wimbledon campaign this week on a high.
Photo: AFP
“It was an amazing tournament and we had a great week — it’s a great feeling to win a second title with my sister,” Chan Hao-ching told the WTA Web site.
“Today was a tough match and even though we were leading 5-1 in the second set, they were fighting a lot to come back and I think we did well to get through the final set,” elder sister Chan Yung-jan added.
The Chans are to face off against French duo Alize Cornet and Caroline Garcia at the London Grand Slam in a side of the draw which could see them have to take on defending champions, top seeds and world No. 1s Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and China’s Peng Shuai later in the tournament, which starts today.
Photo: AFP
On the men’s side at Devonshire Park, Feliciano Lopez proved that there is more than one left-handed Spaniard capable of doing damage at Wimbledon when he beat Richard Gasquet to win the men’s singles grass-court title.
Lopez fired down 14 aces in a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5 win as he made up for the disappointment of losing the Queen’s Club final to Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov the previous weekend.
In the women’s final, big-hitting US teenager Madison Keys claimed her first WTA title when she beat fifth seed Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
Long in the shadow of compatriot Rafael Nadal, Lopez will arrive at Wimbledon today with the knowledge that he, rather than the world No. 1, will be the in-form Spaniard on grass courts.
While Nadal has lost his last three matches on grass dating to 2012, Lopez showed that he has found his groove on the slick turf by making it to consecutive finals.
The 32-year-old, who will be a dangerous floater seeded 19th at the All England Club, lost serve only once against Gasquet on Saturday in an interesting clash of styles.
After breaking serve in the 11th game of the decider, Lopez clinched the title on his second match point with a second serve ace.
“The way I play here is completely different from where I play on other surfaces around the world,” said Lopez, who had never beaten Gasquet before. “I was fighting. Some times you give up a little bit earlier than normal and today I didn’t.”
The 19-year-old Keys is being tipped as the big future hope of US women’s tennis and she showed why against world No. 9 Kerber.
Keys, the youngest player in the women’s top 50, clocked the fastest serve on the women’s tour this year at 202kph in a scintillating display of attacking tennis.
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