Jelena Jankovic yesterday edged past Venus Williams in a two-set Hong Kong Tennis Open’s semi-final match to face Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the final.
The Serbian former world No. 1 stepped into the way of the seven-time Grand Slam winner, who had banked on Hong Kong to get the points she needs to make the top eight for the WTA Finals in Singapore.
“It was a good match for me. I fought hard. Playing against Venus is never an easy task. She is such a great champion... I am glad I was able to beat her tonight,” Jankovic told reporters after the 7-5, 6-4 match that lasted 2 hours, 4 minutes.
Photo: AP
With a bandage on her left thigh, 35-year-old Williams stood 4-5 down after her three double faults in the ninth game in the first set.
Going 3-0 up in the following set, the third-seeded US player was hit by a comeback from fourth-seeded Jankovic, who went on to win seven of the following nine games to finish the match.
Jankovic today is to play Kerber, who eased through her semi-final in a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Australia’s Samantha Stosur.
Photo: AFP
World No. 9 Kerber, the top seed left in the tournament, now only needs one more win to qualify for the WTA Finals after cruising into the finals in just 1 hour, 11 minutes.
TIANJIN OPEN
Second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland yesterday easily won her semi-final match at the Tianjin Open to set up a final that is to pit her against unseeded Danka Kovinic of Montengero.
Radwanska, ranked No. 6 in the world, beat third-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.
Meanwhile, Kovinic beat Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 6-2, 6-7 (2/7), 6-2 in more than two hours of play.
In the doubles, Chinese duo Zheng Saisai and Xu Yi-fan defeated Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko and Olga Savchuk 3-6, 6-1, 10-7 in nearly 75 minutes to set up a final match against Nicole Melichar of the US and Darija Jurak of Croatia today.
The semi-final matches were played in extremely poor air quality, with government data showing levels of PM2.5 — particulates small enough to deeply penetrate the lungs — nearly eight times the maximum recommended by the WHO in a 24-hour period.
GENERALI LADIES LINZ
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Friday defeated Serbian qualifier Aleksandra Krunic 6-3, 6-3 at the Generali Ladies Linz to advance to her third semi-final of the season.
The seventh-seeded Russian is to take on Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium for a place in today’s final. Johanna Larsson of Sweden and Anna-Lena Friedsam yesterday were to contest the other semi-final.
The last seeded player left in the event, Pavlyuchenkova dropped serve once, at 5-2 in the second set, but broke back immediately to wrap up the win.
Flipkens, ranked No. 110 in the world, beat Denisa Allertova of Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4.
Having recovered from a wrist injury that had sidelined her since the US Open, Flipkens needed seven chances while serving at 5-3 to close out the opening set. She quickly built a 4-1 lead in the second before converting her first match point at 5-4.
Earlier, Larsson defeated Madison Brengle 7-5, 7-6 (7/6). The 59th-ranked Swede rallied from 5-2 down to take the opening set against her US opponent and saved a set point at 5-4 in the second.
It is to be Larsson’s third semi-final of the season and the first since winning her maiden WTA title in Bastad, Sweden, in July.
Friedsam beat Margarita Gasparyan of Russia 6-3, 6-4 to advance to her first semi-final in 11 months.
The German lost serve at 5-2 in the second set on the only break point she faced. She closed out the win in her next service game.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS