Slovakia’s No. 1 Magdalena Rybarikova yesterday beat top seed Kristina Mladenovic at the WTA Elite Trophy in a tight match at the round-robin tournament.
Rybarikova, who reached her maiden Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon this year, overcame French star Mladenovic 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5) in 2 hours and 48 minutes at the Hengqin International Tennis Center in Zhuhai.
The Slovakian, making her debut in the city, is ranked 22nd in the world, a career high.
Photo: AFP
Twenty-four-year-old Mladenovic is the No. 1 seed at the season-ending tournament, ranked at a career-high No. 10.
The round-robin format means she still has a chance to qualify for the semis.
However, her first match loss in Zhuhai follows another upset by Croatian Jana Fett at the Japan Women’s Open in September, where she was also top seed.
It comes despite her reaching the semi-finals at Indian Wells earlier in the year — a result that saw her break into the world top 20 for the first time in her career, temporarily overtaking Caroline Garcia as French No. 1.
Meanwhile, American Coco Vandeweghe kicked off the tournament on Tuesday with a dramatic comeback win, seeing off home wild-card Peng Shuai 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round-robin match of the Bougainvillea Group.
After dropping her serve twice in the opening set, Vandeweghe rediscovered her rhythm and fired five of her six aces over the course of the next two sets.
The two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist dropped only five points on her serve in the decider to collect her first win of the tournament.
“Today was a survive-and-conquer kind of day. I really was playing not so well, very below average for the standard that I’m used to playing and competing at,” second seed Vandeweghe told reporters.
“I think it was just a matter of focusing on the next point at hand and just moving forward. It’s a tough part of the year and it’s a tough event,” she added.
Fourth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova opened her campaign with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber of Germany in the Rose Group.
The 26-year-old Russian rallied back from an early break down in the final set to continue her impressive run in Asia, after a runner-up finish in Tokyo followed by her third title of the year in Hong Kong last month.
Germany’s Julia Georges held off a late charge from Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia to win 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) in the first match of the Azalea Group.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
RSS