Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Thursday safely negotiated the second round of the women’s singles at Wimbledon, while Taiwanese sisters Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the All England Club in London.
World No. 48 Hsieh took just 65 minutes to complete a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Spanish world No. 88 Lara Arruabarrena on Court 17.
The 32-year-old saved two of five break points and converted six of nine, winning 65 of the 111 points contested to set up a third-round clash with Romanian world No. 1 and top seed Simona Halep.
Photo: EPA
In the first round of the women’s doubles, fifth seeds Latisha Chan and Peng Shuai defeated Raluca Olaru of Romania and Wang Yafan of China 7-5, 6-3 in 1 hour, 37 minutes on Court 6.
The Taiwanese-Chinese duo saved six of seven break points and converted three of five while taking advantage of their opponents’ four double faults to set up a second-round clash with Alicja Rosolska of Poland and Abigail Spears of the US.
On Court 11, seventh seeds Chan Hao-ching and Yang Zhaoxuan took just 56 minutes to see off the challenge of Ysaline Bonaventure of Belgium and Bibiane Schoofs of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-1.
The Taiwanese-Chinese duo saved two of four break points and converted six of 11, winning 60 of the 105 points contested to set up a second-round match against Christina McHale of the US and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.
In the second round of the women’s singles, defending champion Garbine Muguruza was stunned in the second round 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 by world No. 47 Alison van Uytvanck of Belgium, the latest upset in a series of them at the grass-court Grand Slam.
“It’s a little bit sad, but today didn’t go my way,” the Spaniard said.
That has become a familiar refrain for prominent women at Wimbledon. Only two of the top eight seeds are still in the field after four days of action.
Van Uytvanck began the week with a 1-4 Wimbledon record and only one Grand Slam quarter-final appearance to her name, while Muguruza has two major titles, including the 2016 French Open, and was the runner-up at the All England Club in 2015, but none of that mattered.
Van Uytvanck was aggressive from the baseline, compiling a 29-18 advantage in winners, and broke in seven of Muguruza’s 13 service games.
Still, it was not easy finishing off the most significant victory of her career.
“Inside, I was, like, dying,” the 24-year-old Belgian said.
Third seed Muguruza joined second seed Caroline Wozniacki, fourth seed Sloane Stephens, fifth seed Elina Svitolina, sixth seed Caroline Garcia and eighth seed Petra Kvitova on the way out, along with five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova.
“I mean, anyone, on a good day, can beat anyone,” Van Uytvanck said. “That’s what I think. I still think the top players, their average level is higher than, let’s say, sub-top players, but anyone on a good day can beat anyone, for sure.”
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