The Chan sisters lost their third round-robin match at the WTA Finals in Singapore yesterday, but the narrow defeat saw them claim second in the White Group and advance to tomorrow’s semi-finals.
Taiwanese third seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan were edged 7-5, 6-4 by eighth-seeded Spanish duo Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro in their final group match at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 1 hour, 43 minutes.
The sisters saved eight of 14 break points and converted four of 12, but it was not enough for the victory as their opponents won 80 of the 154 points contested.
Photo: Reuters
The Chan sisters also lost their previous encounter with the Spanish pairing this season in the final of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo last month.
However, the Taiwanese duo finished second in the standings in the White Group with a 2-1 record, 4-2 in sets and a 55.74 win percentage for games, mainly thanks to their 6-2, 6-2 victory over Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US and Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic on Tuesday.
The Spanish duo’s victory meant they finished top with an almost identical record, but having won a game more after Mattek-Sands and Safarova lost their final match last night, retiring 6-2, 3-0 down against Caroline Garcia of France and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.
It is a remarkable rise to the top by the Taiwanese sisters, who had experimented with a partnership back in 2011.
“We have very different personalities and could not work as a team,” younger sister Hao-ching told Singapore’s Straits Times in an interview published on Wednesday.
However, the possibility of competing for a medal at next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro saw them try out a partnership once more this summer, but Chan Yung-jan said it does not necessarily work as people expect.
“I’m not the older sister on the court and definitely not the leader because she never listens to me,” Yung-jan told the Times with a grin.
When not in competition, tennis takes a backseat to their other interests like baking and singing.
“Outside of practice and matches, we almost never talk about tennis. That’s the job of our dad [their coach]. He’s the only one who wants to discuss tactics, not us,” Yung-jan told the Straits Times.
“She bakes all day and forces me to eat her new cakes,” Hao-ching said.
“At least they’re good,” Yung-jan replied, in a dig at Hao-ching’s singing.
In the singles, Maria Sharapova made light of her long injury layoff by advancing to the last four with an unbeaten record in round-robin play after the Russian breezed past Flavia Pennetta 7-5, 6-1.
The victory also ended the career of the 33-year-old Italian, who announced this season would be her last after her stunning US Open victory last month and it booked a surprise passage to the semi-finals for Agnieszka Radwanska.
Radwanska had earlier battled past Simona Halep 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 in their last Red Group match, with the Pole just two points away from elimination at one stage and only able to progress if Sharapova beat Pennetta in straight sets.
Perhaps aware that a single set was all she needed to extend her career by at least one more match, Pennetta started quickly, breaking in the first game against an opponent who had not completed a match since July before arriving in Singapore.
The Italian could not pull further away and she handed back the advantage in the eighth game, unable to find a first serve and double-faulting twice to gift the Russian a break to get back to 4-4.
The pair continued on serve until the 12th game and with the Russian able to tee off on the Italian’s modest serve knowing she had the safety net of a tiebreak, her relentless pressure told on Pennetta, who conceded the game and the set meekly.
The Russian now had the momentum and broke early in the second set through a combination of her typical booming forehands and recently developed sliced backhand chips and drop-shots to surge 3-0 clear.
Pennetta staved off more break points to stop the rot, but the reprieve was brief as the Russian sent down her seventh ace on the way to winning the final three games.
Radwanska had lost her first two matches and few would have given the fifth seed a chance of upsetting the highest-ranked player in the tournament, especially when she took to the court with strapping around her right thigh and shoulder.
Still deadlocked after 12 games, the opener went to a tiebreak and when the players changed ends with the Romanian 5-1 ahead, it appeared Halep would secure the set that would end Radwanska’s interest in the tournament.
Her opponent had other ideas, though, and threw herself around the court to reel off six straight points and seal the opener.
The loss of the set had a demoralizing effect on Halep and the Romanian was soon transformed into a helpless spectator as Radwanska stormed through the second set in 30 minutes, breaking three times.
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