Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan advanced to the semi-finals of the singles at the OEC Taipei WTA Challenger yesterday after dispatching yet another seed at the Taipei Arena.
Chan mixed two aces with two double faults in a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Russian fourth seed Alla Kudryavtseva in 1 hour, 42 minutes on Center Court.
The Taiwanese world No. 212 saved two of four break-point chances and converted four of eight to set up a semi-final against top seed Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany today.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
World No. 87 Friedsam advanced to the semi-finals with a 7-6 (7/0), 6-4 victory over Magda Linette of Poland.
The German saved seven of eight break-point chances and converted two of 11 to advance in 1 hour, 46 minutes on Center Court.
Romanian qualifier Ana Bogdan also created an upset in the quarter-finals when she rallied from a set down to defeat Chinese third seed Zheng Saisai 6-7 (3/7), 6-1, 6-4 on Court 1.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The world No. 241 saved one of three break-point chances and converted five of 10 to complete the victory in 2 hours, 30 minutes and set up a semi-final with Russian sixth Vitalia Diatchenko today.
World No. 108 Diatchenko saved three of six break-point chances and converted six of 15 in her 6-2, 6-3 defeat of No. 2 seed Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand in 1 hour, 9 minutes in the first quarter-final on Center Court.
Chan made a successful return to Center Court later yesterday, along with younger sister Hao-ching, to compete in the quarter-finals of the doubles.
The top-seeded Taiwanese sisters won a hard-fought duel 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 against Chinese pairing Wang Yafan and Zhu Lin in 1 hour, 36 minutes.
The sisters saved two of four break-point chances and converted three of 12 to set up a Taiwanese showdown in today’s semi-finals after fourth seeds Hsieh Shu-ying and Xu Yi-fan of China completed a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Chinese pairing Han Xinyun and Zhang Kai-lin in yesterday’s other quarter-final on Court 1.
The cross-strait duo saved three of four break-point chances and converted four of five to complete the victory in 57 minutes.
Today’s other doubles semi-final sees Taiwanese duo Chang Kai-chen and Chuang Chia-jung take on second seeds Arina Rodionova of Australia and Olga Savchuk of Ukraine.
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