Top seed Caroline Wozniacki and 16-year-old Croatian qualifier Ana Konjuh reached the Istanbul WTA semi-finals on Friday.
Konjuh defeated Elina Svitolina 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 to become the youngest player to reach a WTA semi-final since a 16-year-old Donna Vekic made the Tashkent final in 2012.
Awaiting Konjuh in the semi-finals is second seed Roberta Vinci, who enjoyed a 6-0, 6-2 win over sixth seed Kurumi Nara in just 49 minutes.
Wozniacki rallied past eighth seed Karolina Pliskova, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2, while France’s Kristina Mladenovic won a two-hour, 23-minute marathon against former French Open winner Francesca Schiavone, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
“I’m happy with the way I’ve been serving this week and it definitely helped me out there today,” Wozniacki said. “Karolina is a tough opponent and she always gives me a lot of trouble. I knew it was not going to be easy.”
SWEDISH OPEN
AP, BASTAD, Sweden
Mona Barthel of Germany beat Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-2, 7-6 in the Swedish Open quarter-finals on Friday.
The 54th-ranked Kanepi was the highest-ranked player left in the tournament after early defeats for the top eight seeded players. Barthel won on the first of two match points.
Barthel, chasing her third WTA title, next plays Silvia Soler-Espinosa. The Spaniard — a first-time finalist in Strasbourg in May — beat Russia’s Alexandra Panova 6-3, 6-2.
In the other quarter-finals, Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa defeated Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, while Slovakia’s Jana Cepelova beat Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-4, 7-5.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two
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