Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei was ousted by a former partner in the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Brisbane International yesterday, while Alize Cornet reached her biggest final in more than two years in the singles.
Hsieh and Laura Siegemund fell to a 6-4, 6-3 defeat to top seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US and India’s Sania Mirza, a former partner of the Kaohsiung-born former doubles world No. 1.
The Taiwanese-German duo saved six of 11 break points, but converted just three of nine as they exited the tournament in 70 minutes.
Photo: AFP
Mattek-Sands and Mirza take on Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in today’s final after the second seeds defeated third seeds Abigail Spears of the US and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-1, 6-3 in 62 minutes in yesterday’s other semi-final.
In the singles, Cornet advanced after an “exhausted” Garbine Muguruza withdrew from their semi-final.
The unseeded Frenchwoman was leading her Spanish opponent 4-1 in the first set when Muguruza decided she could not continue.
Although the official reason was a right-thigh injury, the fourth-seeded Spaniard, who had spent more than seven hours on court in her first three rounds, conceded later that she was physically spent.
“I just felt, like, a little bit exhausted on the court and I have been dealing, you know, with tiredness and issues with all these hard matches I have been playing, and today I was far from 100 percent,” Muguruza said.
Cornet plays third seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in today’s final, the first time the 26-year-old from Nice has reached the decider of a premier tournament since she lost to Venus Williams in Dubai in 2014 after having beaten Serena in the semi-finals.
A delighted Cornet said Muguruza’s withdrawal had been the perfect result.
“When she decided to stop I was a little bit surprised, but you know a little bit of luck never killed anybody,” Cornet said. “I’m just going to take it. I really enjoy the fact that I’m in the final. It’s a big day for me. I just learned that I’m going to be seeded at the Australian Open because of this match. So it’s two bits of good news at the same time.”
Cornet went into the tournament ranked 41st in the world, but will now climb to 31.
She could go as high as 26 if she wins today’s final.
Pliskova, who was runner-up at last year’s US Open, reached the final in impressive style when she beat Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-2, 6-4 in the second semi-final.
The tall Czech used her booming serve and powerful ground strokes to great effect in the 64-minute victory.
“I’m really satisfied with the way I played tonight,” Pliskova said. “I was serving well and maybe she was a little bit tired from her previous match [against world No. 1 Angelique Kerber].”
In the men’s quarter-finals there were victories for top seed Milos Raonic, second seed Stan Wawrinka, third seed Kei Nishikori and seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov, who ousted fourth seed Dominic Thiem.
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
The tri-nation Twenty20 international series featuring hosts Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, is to be played entirely in Rawalpindi from Tuesday next week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday, after this week’s suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. The change came after at least eight Sri Lankan players asked to leave over security fears following Tuesday’s bombing that killed 12 people and wounded 27. Their country’s cricket board issued a stern directive to the team to stay put or face consequences. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the decision to stay was taken after “close consultations” with hosts Pakistan who
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
France’s Kevin Aymoz snatched the men’s title at Skate America on Saturday, winning his first grand prix title with a battling free skate, while short program leader Kazuki Tomono faltered. It was an emotional triumph for Aymoz, who made his grand prix level debut in 2017, with seven prior podium finishes, but no gold. He had struggled with a painful foot injury since a disappointing 10th-place finish at Skate Canada last month. “It was so difficult,” the 28-year-old said. “After Skate Canada I wanted to give up so much and today I’m here and it’s so beautiful to be with my friends competing
RSS