The Chan sisters on Tuesday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne, England, while fellow Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei crashed out to sixth seed Simona Halep in the second round of the women’s singles.
Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan defeated fourth seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Demi Schuurs 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 in 1 hour, 34 minutes on the grass courts at Devonshire Park.
The Chan sisters saved five of nine break points and converted five of 13, winning 68 percent of their second return points to avenge their 6-4, 5-7, 10-4 defeat to the German-Dutch duo in Birmingham last week.
Photo: AFP
The victory leveled the Chan sisters’ career record against Groenefeld and Schuurs at 2-2 after their victory in the final in Doha in February and a loss in the semi-finals in Rome last month.
The duo next face Raquel Atawo of the US and Vera Zvonareva of Russia, who defeated Daria Kasatkina of Russia and Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 6-2, 7-6 (7/5).
In the second round of the women’s singles, Hsieh fell to a 6-2, 6-0 defeat to Halep in just 53 minutes as the Romanian avenged her defeat in the round of 32 at Wimbledon last year.
Halep next takes on Polona Hercog of Slovenia after she rallied from a set down to defeat Pauline Parmentier of France 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4).
“She [Hercog] has played really well this year, so far. When we played in Miami, it was a really tough and really long match. I expect a tough one again, but hopefully her top-spin isn’t as dangerous on grass as it can be on hard courts,” Halep told the WTA Web site.
Also advancing were Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber, Kiki Bertens, Johanna Konta and Caroline Wozniacki.
Kerber made the semi-finals at the Mallorca Open last week to begin her grass-court season and will be hopeful of claiming her first title of the year in Eastbourne, where she has twice reached the final.
Her opponent Sam Stosur was one of a host of players playing two matches in one day after rain interrupted Monday’s schedule.
The veteran Australian had seen off Sofia Kenin of the US in the first round, but had no answer to Kerber’s power as the German fired 15 winners in a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
“It’s nice being back here, having another good match on grass before Wimbledon,” Kerber said.
Bertens was also in commanding form as the third seed saw off Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 6-1.
Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki also won in straight sets, beating Andrea Petkovic, 6-4, 6-4 to set up a rematch of last year’s final against Aryna Sabalenka.
Konta is keen to make an impression on home soil after reaching the semi-finals of the French Open.
The world No. 19 was pushed all the way by Greece’s Maria Sakkari, but prevailed 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to set up a third-round clash with Ons Jabeur.
Elena Svitolina was the highest ranked player to exit as the Ukranian fifth seed bowed out 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) to Alize Cornet.
Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko also rallied from losing the first set 6-1 to world No. 9 Sloane Stephens to take the next two sets 6-0, 6-3.
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