Taiwanese hopes were ended at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, on Friday when Chan Chin-wei was ousted by the second seeds in the final doubles quarter-final.
Chan and Darija Jurak of Croatia were beaten 6-3, 7-5 by Spanish duo Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja in 1 hour, 12 minutes.
The second seeds saved two of four break points and converted four of 12, winning 65 of the 118 points contested to advance to a semi-final against third seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Alicja Rosolska of Poland.
Photo: AP
In the quarter-finals of the singles, Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic advanced to the semi-finals, beating Croatia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2, 6-4.
The 11th-ranked Pliskova is set to make her debut in the top 10 when the new rankings are released tomorrow.
“It has always been a goal of mine to be top 10 and I finally achieved it, but in the big picture of tennis, I still have to go on the court and play well. The girls do not care if I am 10 or 11,” Pliskova said.
Photo: AP
Only world No. 1 Serena Williams, who withdrew from Stanford with an elbow injury, has more wins (40-1) than Pliskova (38-14) this year and the fourth-seeded Czech player snapped a tie with Williams for most aces on the tour. Pliskova has 361 to Serena’s 352.
Pliskova was to yesterday face Varvara Lepchenko of the US. The 60th-ranked Lepchenko beat Mona Barthel of Germany 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-3.
“There have been a lot of surprises this week,” Pliskova said. “The seeded players have been struggling and the draw is open for anyone. A lot of girls are playing well and my next match will be tough.”
Pliskova is to become the eighth Czech woman to be ranked in the top 10 since the current system was introduced in 1975, and three Czech women are to be among the top 10 for the first time in WTA history.
Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina advanced with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory over American Alison Riske.
“I was struggling and trying to push myself,” Svitolina said. “It was important to react fast and open the angles.”
Riske was serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set when Svitolina rallied.
“When I was down 4-5, I said to myself: ‘Hit the ball and wait for your chance,’” Svitolina said. “That helped lead me to victory.”
Svitolina is to play No. 14 Angelique Kerber of Germany, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 winner over No. 7 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi yesterday bowed out at the Malaysia Masters, defeated in the semi-finals a day after an epic quarter-final against the highest-ranked player left in the men’s singles draw. Lin lost to Weng Hongyang of China 21-13, 21-19 after a draining match against Japan’s Kodai Naraoka a day earlier in which the second game had 59 points. The 23-year-old left-hander had won his only previous BWF match against his Chinese opponent. However, Weng booked a place in today’s final after easing past the Taiwanese battler. He faces India’s H.S. Prannoy, who advanced when Indonesia’s Christian Adinata retired while trailing 19-17 in the
Kosovo Olympic authorities have asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to open disciplinary proceedings against Novak Djokovic, accusing the Serb of stirring up political tension by saying “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia” at the French Open. Djokovic wrote the message on a camera lens following his first-round win on Monday, the same day that 30 NATO peacekeeping troops were hurt in clashes with Serb protesters in the Kosovo town of Zvecan where Djokovic’s father grew up. “Kosovo is our cradle, our stronghold, center of the most important things for our country,” 36-year-old told Serbian media. Serbian authorities said 52 protesters were wounded
Unable to sleep the night before her first-round match at the French Open against second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine checked her phone at 5am on Sunday and saw disturbing news back home in Kyiv. At least one person was killed when the capital of Kostyuk’s nation was subjected to the largest drone attack by Russia since the start of the war, launched with an invasion assisted by Belarus in February last year. “It’s something I cannot describe, probably. I try to put my emotions aside any time I go out on court. I think I’m better than
China has long been the sleeping giant of men’s tennis, but on Monday the giant stirred as Shanghai trailblazer Zhang Zhizhen advanced to the second round of Roland Garros. One of three Chinese men in the draw, Zhang became the first from the nation to win a main draw match at Roland Garros in 86 years after Serbian opponent Dusan Lajovic retired due to illness when trailing 6-1, 4-1. Compatriots Shang Juncheng and Wu Yibing bowed out in defeat, but 26-year-old Zhang has a big chance to go further when he takes on Argentine qualifier Thiago Agustin Tirante for a place in
RSS