Chan Yung-jan became the last Taiwanese to exit the French Open yesterday, after younger sister Chan Hao-ching also crashed out of the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles in Paris on Wednesday.
Seventh seeds Chan Yung-jan and Max Mirnyi of Belarus rallied from a set down against second seeds Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig, but they were beaten in the super tiebreak, falling to a 6-1, 3-6, 10-6 defeat on Court 2 at Roland Garros.
The Indian-Croatian duo saved one of two break points and converted two of three, winning 54 of the 105 points contested to advance to a semi-final on Court Suzanne Lenglen later yesterday against third-seeded French duo Kristina Mladenovic and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
Photo: EPA
On Wednesday, top seeds Chan Hao-ching and Jamie Murray of Britain fell to a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to sixth seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in their mixed doubles quarter-final.
The Czech-French duo saved four of six break points and converted four of seven, hitting six winners to advance to a semi-final on Court Philippe Chatrier later yesterday against Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Leander Paes of India, who defeated fifth seeds Elena Vesnina of Russia and Bruno Soares of Brazil 6-4, 6-3 in the final quarter-final on Court 1.
In the singles on Wednesday, No. 2 seed Andy Murray overcame a bout of “drop-shotitis” to beat Richard Gasquet in four sets and set up a compelling semi-final clash with defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka.
The Briton started strongly in a 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 6-0, 6-2 win that maintained a perfect 5-0 Grand Slam record against the ninth-seeded Frenchman, breaking when Gasquet double-faulted to lose the second game and consolidating to lead 5-2.
However, the momentum shifted dramatically in the eighth game when the Scot, stepping further into the court as he tried to force the pace, conceded three points in a row with unforced errors.
Gasquet broke back in the next game and as Murray turned increasingly to drop-shots that the Frenchman began to read, he reeled off the next three games to take a set his opponent had been in the most comfortable of box seats to win.
The pattern of the first set began to repeat itself in the second, but Murray won in a tiebreak, claiming six points in a row from 3-1 down in what both he and Gasquet identified as a turning point.
Wawrinka beat Spain’s Albert Ramos Vinolas in straight sets.
In the women’s draw, Australian Sam Stosur battled into her fourth French Open semi-final, beating 102nd-ranked Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).
Stosur faces a semi-final against Spanish fourth seed Garbine Muguruza, who ended the run of another player outside the top 100, 108th-ranked American Shelby Rogers 7-5, 6-3.
Although Shohei Ohtani’s first trip to the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series is a global sports event, it is particularly big in Japan. Fans from Ohtani’s home nation bought more World Series tickets for the first two games than from anywhere outside North America, ticket broker StubHub said. Dodger Stadium was packed to the rafters on Friday night for the start of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ showdown with the New York Yankees. “Ohtani’s first season with the Dodgers drew big international appeal, especially from his home country of Japan,” StubHub spokesperson Adam Budelli said. “At the beginning of the season, buyers from
The Major League Baseball World Series trophy is headed to Los Angeles, but the party is extending all the way to Japan. People milled around local train stations yesterday morning in Tokyo as newspaper extras were ready to roll off the presses, proclaiming Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto as world champions along with their Dodgers teammates after a stirring Game 5 victory over the New York Yankees. The 30-year-old is a national hero in Japan whose face adorns billboards and TV adverts all over the country. Ohtani this year became the first player in history to hit 50 home runs and
STAR IN DOUBT: After partially dislocating his shoulder in a feetfirst slide into second base, the status of Japanese slugger Ohtani is uncertain for Game 3 as he undergoes tests Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Saturday walked back to his dugout and made the slightest tip of his cap to cheering fans. He left Japan for moments like this, an opportunity to put the Los Angeles Dodgers in control of the World Series. Yamamoto allowed one hit over 6-1/3 innings and Freddie Freeman homered for the second straight night as Los Angeles beat the New York Yankees 4-2 for a 2-0 Series lead. However, the Dodgers head to New York uncertain whether Shohei Ohtani can play after their biggest star partially dislocated his left shoulder on a slide at second base. “We’re going to get
Three-time reigning world champion Kaori Sakamoto on Saturday led a Japanese podium sweep at Skate Canada, locking up a second straight Canadian women’s title despite two falls in her free skate. Sakamoto, who led 19-year-old American Alysa Liu after the short program, looked a little tight during her jazzy free skate, falling on a Salchow jump and again on a triple flip while fighting to hang on to a few other moves. Her second-best free skate score of 126.24 was enough for gold in the second Grand Prix event of the season in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She finished with 201.21 points, well ahead