Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s singles at the Australian Open, while Ivo Karlovic became the oldest man to win a match at the tournament in more than 40 years.
Hsieh, the 28th seed, took just 58 minutes to see off the challenge of Switzerland’s Stefanie Voegele 6-2, 6-1.
The Taiwanese No. 1 won 76 percent of points on her first serve compared with just 40 percent for her opponent.
Photo: Reuters
Hsieh saved six of eight break points and converted six of eight, hit 27 winners and won 62 of the 98 points contested to advance to a second-round match against world No. 110 Laura Siegemund of Germany, who rallied from a set down to defeat Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-2.
Bashing 39 aces to match his age, Karlovic felled Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, a man 18 years his junior, to reach the second round of the men’s singles.
On a sweltering day at Melbourne Park, the towering Croat’s 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5) win on Court 19 made him the oldest victor at the tournament since Australian icon Ken Rosewall reached the third round of the 1978 tournament at the age of 44.
The world No. 73 also became the oldest winner at any Grand Slam since a 40-year-old Jimmy Connors beat Jaime Oncins to reach the second round of the 1992 US Open.
Karlovic, whose birthday falls on Feb. 28, will be officially middle-aged next month, but said he had no intention of winding down while still fit enough to compete.
“I think I’m healthy so hopefully there will be no injuries,” Karlovic said. “As long as my ranking is up and I get in to all these tournaments, I don’t see any reason I should stop.”
The oldest man in the men’s singles ahead of 37-year-old double defending champion Roger Federer, Karlovic advanced a day after 31-year-old Andy Murray played possibly his final match at Melbourne Park.
The British former world No. 1 has been suffering severe pain in his right hip and said before the tournament that he might have to retire.
Where Murray’s, scrambling, defensive all-court game has undoubtedly taken its toll, Karlovic’s longevity might be explained in part by his commitment to the now rarely seen art of serve-volley.
Boasting a monster serve and an arm-span that can seem as wide as the court, the Croat keeps points short and sharp.
The style can be picked apart by good passers and the power of modern baseline pounders, but it has served Karlovic well in a very respectable career of eight titles.
No rally against Hurkacz exceeded four points and the silver-haired Karlovic sealed the match when the Pole sent an attempted passing shot into the tramlines.
He raised his arms into the air in triumph as a rowdy smattering of Croatian fans chanted: “Ivo.”
Why would he want to leave all this, he asked.
“This range of emotions from winning to losing, it’s, I don’t know, it’s different,” he said.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
RSS