Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday fought back from a set and a double break down to advance to her fourth WTA Tour quarter-final of the season at the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Rabat, Morocco.
Second seed Hsieh fought back to record a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena in 1 hour, 58 minutes, her fifth straight victory over the world No. 110.
World No. 24 Hsieh saved 10 of 15 break points and converted six of seven to advance to a quarter-final against British seventh seed Johanna Konta, who defeated Ana Bogdan of Romania 6-1, 6-7 (6/8), 6-2 in 1 hour, 59 minutes.
“On clay, it can be pretty good, it can be pretty bad. I know I can suddenly get the feeling and I can feel really comfortable on the court,” Hsieh told the WTA Web site.
“I was aggressive and I picked up my game almost at the last moment,” she said of rallying from a set a 3-5 down.
“It was tough, because normally I handle the court pretty well, but today it looked like she was handling the drop shots and the volleys better than me — I was a little bit upset,” she added.
The Taiwanese No. 1’s only appearance in a WTA clay-court semi-final was in Rabat last year and she had the chance repeat that feat against world No. 47 Konta.
However, Hsieh has a 2-4 career record against the Briton and she has lost their previous three meetings — at Wimbledon in 2017, in Rome last year and in Indian Wells, California, in March.
Also advancing to the quarter-finals was Belgian top seed Elise Mertens, who defeated Ivana Jorovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-0. She was due to face Greek sixth seed Maria Sakkari, who beat Bulgaria’s Isabella Shinikova 6-4, 6-4.
Australian fourth seed Ajla Tomljanovic defeated Swiss wild-card Timea Bacsinszky 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 to set up a clash with Rebecca Peterson of Sweden, who beat Polona Hercog of Slovenia 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.
Eighth seed Alison van Uytvanck crushed Varvara Lepchenko of the US 6-4, 6-0 to set up a quarter-final against fellow Belgian Ysaline Bonaventure, who outlasted Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
For the first time in almost 36 years, a Parisian derby will be played in French soccer’s top flight when reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain FC take on the nouveau riche Paris Football Club (PFC) today. Not one of the players involved in today’s match — PFC’s 38-year-old third-choice goalkeeper Remy Riou is almost certainly not going to be involved — was born the last time there was a Parisian derby in Ligue 1. That was on Feb. 25, 1990, when Moroccan midfielder Aziz Bouderbala scored a brace as Racing Paris 1 beat PSG 2-1 at the Parc des Princes home that
Stan Wawrinka’s 40-year-old legs did not let him down over three-plus hours in his first singles match of a farewell tour yesterday. Three-time Grand Slam singles champion Wawrinka beat Arthur Rinderknech of France, who is ranked 29th to Wawrinka’s 157th, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). The match went 3 hours, 16 minutes. Wawrinka last month announced that this year would be his last on the ATP tour. “Today was a tough battle ... it’s amazing to come here for the first time, to have so much support,” Wawrinka said yesterday. “Twenty years on tour, you kind of always play in the same place
BOUNCING BACK: Antetokounmpo had just returned from an eight-game injury absence last month, leading the Milwaukee Bucks to their third win in four games Giannis Antetokounmpo threw down the game-winning dunk with 4.7 seconds remaining to lift the Milwaukee Bucks to a 122-121 victory over the Charlotte Hornets and grab a slice of NBA history on Friday. The Bucks trailed by as many as 16 on their home floor, but Antetokounmpo scored 12 of his 30 points in the final quarter to help seal the win in a frantic finish that saw five lead changes in the final 45.7 seconds. The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) added 10 rebounds and five assists. It was his 158th regular-season game with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka yesterday got her season off to a winning start for Japan in the United Cup, after the UK’s Emma Raducanu pulled out of their singles clash with a fitness issue, while in Brisbane, Taiwan’s Latisha Chan and Wu Fang-hsien crashed out of the women’s doubles. In Perth, despite Osaka’s win, the UK took the match 2-1 with a deciding mixed doubles victory. Osaka was too strong for reserve and 276th-ranked Katie Swan, winning 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 as Raducanu watched from the sidelines. “I’m proud of how I fought,” Osaka said. “I’d never played here, it was tough.” Britain
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