Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei crashed out of the quarter-finals of the Tianjin Open, despite putting up a fight against third seed Belinda Bencic.
World No. 160 Hsieh rallied after losing the first set to take the match to a deciding third against the Swiss world No. 35, but she finally fell to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 defeat in 1 hour, 49 minutes, the day after her marathon 2 hour, 31 minute victory over China’s Zhang Shuai.
Hsieh converted four of eight break-point chances, but it was not enough, even with her opponent serving up six double faults.
Photo: AFP
Bencic faces Hsieh’s doubles partner Peng Shuai of China in the semi-finals after the world No. 22 and second seed defeated eighth seed Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia 7-6 (7/5), 2-6, 7-5.
Sixth seed Alison Riske won the bragging rights in an all-American quarter-final as she downed fourth seed Vavara Lepchenko 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in 1 hour, 53 minutes to set up a semi-final against China’s Zheng Saisai, who defeated Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in 2 hours, 8 minutes.
In the doubles semi-finals, Taiwan’s Chan Chin-wei and Xu Yi-fan of China, the No. 4 seeds, were knocked out by second seeds Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia and Anastasia Rodionova of Australia.
Chan and Xu saved two of the four break-point chances they faced and converted two of three, but it was not enough as they fell to a 6-4, 4-6, 11-9 defeat in 1 hour, 26 minutes.
In the final, Kudryavtseva and Rodionova are to face either Riske and Tomljanovic or Cirstea and Andreja Klepac of Slovenia, who play their semi-final today.
JAPAN WOMEN’S OPEN
Top-seeded Taiwanese sisters Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan crashed out of the doubles semi-finals at the Japan Women’s Open in Osaka yesterday after a straight-sets defeat.
The Chan sisters converted only two of 12 break-point chances against Shuko Aoyama of Japan and Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic and they fell to a disappointing 6-4, 6-3 loss in 1 hour, 19 minutes.
The other semi-final is between the winners of yesterday’s quarter-final matches, which saw fourth seeds Darija Jurak of Croatia and Megan Moulton-Levy of the US defeat Japanese wild-cards Kyoka Okamura and Kotomi Takahata 6-3, 7-5, while Lara Arruabarrena of Spain and Tatjana Maria of Germany beat Japanese sisters Erika and Yurika Sema 6-4, 7-5.
In the quarter-finals of the singles, top seed Samantha Stosur of Australia defeated Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-1 to set up a semi-final against third seed Evina Svitolina of Ukraine, who beat Lauren Davis of the US 6-2, 6-4.
In the other half of the draw, fifth seed Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan defeated Croatia’s Ana Konjuh 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-2 to set up a semi-final against Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum, who was leading second seed Madison Keys of the US 6-2, 4-3 when the American retired.
Fenerbahce on Thursday earned a rare 2-1 win in England, but were still knocked out of the UEFA Europa League by Nottingham Forest in the playoffs. Forest entered the second leg with a healthy 3-0 lead from the opener in Istanbul — where Vitor Pereira made an impact in his first game in charge — and that proved enough to advance to the round-of-16 with a 4-2 aggregate score. The result was a boost for Forest, struggling at 17th place in the Premier League, in their return to Europe after three decades. They next face Real Betis Balompie or Kerem Akturkoglu gave Fenerbahce
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
RSS