The Chan sisters were on Tuesday victorious in the doubles at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, while second seed Karolina Pliskova and third seed Dominika Cibulkova both lost their opening singles matches.
Fourth seeds Chan Yung-jan and Martina Hingis rallied from a set down to win their second-round match against Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-3, 14-12 in 1 hour, 22 minutes.
The Taiwanese-Swiss duo saved two of seven break points and converted five of six to advance to a quarter-final against either sixth seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Peng Shuai or Mandy Minella and Anastasija Sevastova, who were due to play their second-round match yesterday.
Fifth seeds Chan Hao-ching and Yaroslava Shvedova cruised to a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Elise Mertens of Belgium and Aleksandrina Naydenova of Bulgaria in just 55 minutes in the first round.
The Taiwanese-Kazakh duo converted four of six break points and won 55 of the 94 points contested to advance to a second-round clash with Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania and Daria Kasatkina of Russia.
In the singles, Pliskova fell 6-2, 6-4 to Kristina Mladenovic, while Cibulkova lost 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to Ekaterina Makarova in the second round after both had received first-round byes.
Top seed Angelique Kerber, who would return to the world No. 1 ranking if she wins the Dubai title, won her opening match 6-4, 6-3 against fellow German Mona Barthel.
“It’s always tough to play against a German,” Kerber said. “I was really happy with my performance today. I played my game.”
Pliskova won her second title of the year in Doha last week, defeating former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the final, but she had little time to adjust to the different conditions in Dubai — the courts are playing faster and the ball flies a bit more.
In particular, Pliskova struggled with her serve, double-faulting six times and losing her serve on four of nine break points she presented to Mladenovic.
“I was just playing, like, really bad, so there is not much what you can do about it,” Pliskova said. “If you are playing like this and your opponent is playing well, then you’re probably gonna lose the match.”
World No. 37 Makarova had lost her first three encounters against Cibulkova before she upset her in the third round of the Australian Open last month.
“I never beat her before [Australia],” Makarova said. “So this match, when I was coming out and I [was] kind of more believing that I can win, and I knew what to do, how to play, where to go.”
At the Delray Beach Open, Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun and Leander Paes of India advacned to the quarter-finals of the doubles with a 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 victory over US duo Bjorn Fratangelo and Taylor Fritz in 1 hour, 27 minutes.
The ATP Tour veterans saved nine of 12 break points and converted four of nine to set up a clash against another American pairing, either top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan or Jared Donaldson and Sam Querrey.
ON ANOTHER LEVEL: In a pregame speech, Ohtani urged his teammates ‘to throw away their admiration’ for the US, because they ‘came here to surpass them, to reach the top’ Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout had dreamed of this moment, along with millions of fans throughout Japan and the US: the two biggest stars on the planet, longtime teammates, facing each other at 60 feet, 6 inches, the world title at stake. Of course, the count went full on Tuesday night, and Ohtani got Trout to swing under a slider on the outside corner, sealing Japan’s 3-2 win and their first World Baseball Classic (WBC) title since 2009. “This is the best moment in my life,” Ohtani said through a translator. Ohtani, the two-way star who has captivated fans across two continents, was
With cherry blossoms reaching full bloom in Tokyo, Japanese sports fans erupted in jubilation yesterday, after their compatriots defeated the US to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC). More than a hundred people gathered near Shimbashi Station in the city center to get special newspaper editions celebrating the victory. The scene quickly turned chaotic, with police officers jumping in to help hand out copies. “I am so proud as a Japanese national,” said Yuji Takeno, a 33-year-old company worker who was among those gathered in Shimbashi. “I also play baseball for leisure and it makes me want to work harder, that’s how
Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka on Tuesday said she struggled to understand the “hate” she encountered in the locker room amid strained relations between some players following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The world No. 2 has previously said she has nothing against Ukrainians and felt bad for them as Moscow’s action rages on. Belarus has been a staging area for the invasion, which Moscow calls a “special military operation.” “It was really tough for me because I’ve never faced that much hate in the locker room,” Sabalenka said ahead of the Miami Open. “There are a lot of haters on Instagram when you’re losing
When Shohei Ohtani reached second base after hitting a leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth inning on Monday, he immediately looked up at the crowd and waved his arms, in a rare sign of emotion, as if he knew what was coming next. Ohtani’s clutch hit sparked a late rally, and moments later Munetaka Murakami delivered a walk-off, two-run double to lift Japan over Mexico 6-5 and into the World Baseball Classic final. Two-time champions Japan were to face the defending champions the US in yesterday night’s title game at 7pm in Miami. After Monday’s game, Japan team members rushed
RSS