Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, playing her first match since winning the French Open, survived a tough battle at the Aegon International on Monday, winning against Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 0-6, 6-4.
There was a shock, though, at Eastbourne’s Devonshire Park as defending champion Dominika Cibulkova suffered a second-round knockout by British player Heather Watson.
Watson, whose ranking has slumped to 126 in the world, delighted the home crowd with a 7-5, 6-4 defeat of the fourth-seeded Slovakian.
Photo: Reuters
Ostapenko, who shot up to 13th in the world after her stunning triumph in Paris, played with her usual mixture of clean winners and errors to overpower her opponent, despite a second-set meltdown when her game misfired on the grass.
The 20-year-old Ostapenko, who got a first-round bye, in the third round faces either Britain’s fifth-seeded Johanna Konta or Romanian Sorana Cirstea, whose match was to finish after press time last night.
World No. 9 Cibulkova saved three match points when Watson served at 5-3 in the second set, but after breaking back she immediately dropped her own serve as her Wimbledon preparations were cut short.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Monday was eliminated 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round by Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay.
In qualifying matches involving Taiwanese on Monday for the men’s draw at Wimbledon, Jason Jung lost to Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (8/6) and Chen Ti defeated Ricardo Ojeda Lara of Spain 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-2, while in the men’s doubles Hsieh Cheng-peng and partner Max Schnur of the US beat Russians Evgeny Donskoy and Konstantin Kravchuk 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, while Pen Hsien-yin and partner Sander Arends of the Netherlands defeated Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana of Thailand 7-6 (11/9), 6-3.
Elsewhere, Serena Williams asked John McEnroe for “respect” after the seven-time Grand Slam champion said his fellow American would be ranked “like, 700 in the world” if she had to play on the men’s circuit.
In an interview with National Public Radio on Sunday, McEnroe said 23-times Grand Slam champion Williams was “the best female player ever,” but declined to label her the best overall.
“If she played the men’s circuit, she’d be like 700 in the world,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I don’t think Serena is an incredible player. I do and on a given day, Serena could beat some [male] players ... but if she had to just play the circuit — the men’s circuit — that would be an entirely different story.”
Former world No. 1 Williams, who has taken time off to have a baby, responded on Twitter.
“Dear John, I adore and respect you but please please keep me out of your statements that are not factually based,” she wrote. “I’ve never played anyone ranked ‘there’ nor do I have time. Respect me and my privacy as I’m trying to have a baby. Good day sir.”
‘SU-PENKO’: Hsieh and Ostapenko face a rematch against their Australian Open final opponents, the same duo Hsieh played in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday survived a near upset to the unseeded duo of Sorana Cirstea of Romania and Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya, setting up a semi-final showdown against last year’s winners. Despite losing a hard-fought opening set 7-6 (7/4) on a tiebreak, the fourth seeds turned up the heat, losing just five games in the final two sets to handily put down Cirstea and Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-2. Nicknamed “Su-Penko,” the pair are next to face top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in a reversal of last
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and her Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko finished runners-up in the Wimbledon women's doubles final yesterday, losing 6-3, 2-6, 4-6. The three-set match against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens of Belgium lasted two hours and 23 minutes. The loss denied 39-year-old Hsieh a chance to claim her 10th Grand Slam title. Although the Taiwanese-Latvian duo trailed 1-3 in the opening set, they rallied with two service breaks to take it 6-3. In the second set, Mertens and Kudermetova raced to a 5-1 lead and wrapped it up 6-2 to even the match. In the final set, Hsieh and
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei and her Latvian partner, Jelena Ostapenko, advanced to the Wimbledon women’s doubles final on Friday, defeating top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in straight sets. The fourth-seeded duo bounced back quickly after losing their opening service game, capitalizing on frequent unforced errors by their opponents to take the first set 7-5. Maintaining their momentum in the second set, Hsieh and Ostapenko broke serve early and held their lead to close out the match 6-4. They are set to face the eighth-seeded pair of Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens
Outside Anfield, the red sea of tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, has continued to grow this week, along with questions over whether Liverpool could play at Preston today, their first game since the brothers’ tragic loss. Inside Anfield, and specifically a grieving Liverpool dressing room, there was no major debate over the pre-season friendly. The English Premier League champions intend to honor their teammate in the best way they know how. It would be only 10 days since the deaths of Jota and Silva when Liverpool appear at Deepdale Stadium for what is certain to be a hugely
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