Jelena Ostapenko was to play Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit in the final of the women’s singles at the Viking International Eastbourne after an impressive 6-4 6-1 win against Elena Rybakina on Friday, while Taiwan’s Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching were defeated in the women’s doubles.
Former French Open champion Ostapenko, now 43rd in the world rankings, struck 38 winners against Kazakhstan’s Rybakina, who appeared to be hindered late in the first set by a back problem.
World No. 21 Rybakina required medical treatment after holding serve to trail 5-4.
Photo: AFP
Ostapenka went on to dominate the second set.
Kontaveit, the world No. 27, progressed to her eighth career final after Italy’s Camila Giorgi was forced to retire due to a thigh injury when trailing 5-4 in the first set.
Giorgi ousted top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals on Thursday but paid for her exertions in that match as she lasted just 47 minutes before having to pull out.
Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego and Australia’s Alex de Minaur were to contest the men’s final, with all games to finish after press time last night.
In the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Nicole Melichar of the US and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands defeated the Chan sisters 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 10-5.
In the final, they were to play Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara, who ousted Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine and Japan’s Makoto Ninomiya 7-5, 6-1.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Defending champions Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday led the way into the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals, with Carlos Alcaraz hot on their heels after a straight-sets victory of his own. Sinner shrugged off a mid-match weather delay lasting nearly three hours as he advanced 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) over Adrian Mannarino. Alcaraz, the second seed who has reached the final in his past six tournaments, hammered Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi 6-1, 6-4. After sweeping the opening set in 28 minutes, Alcaraz hit a speed bump, dropping his serve to trail 2-4. He promptly regained the break, then fought through a marathon ninth game
Taiwan’s men’s basketball team on Monday clinched a spot in the FIBA Asia Cup quarter-finals with a 78-64 win over Jordan in Saudi Arabia, securing their best finish in the tournament since placing fourth in 2013. The win was sweet revenge for Taiwan, who were denied a quarter-final spot by Jordan at the same stage of the previous Asia Cup in 2022 after blowing a nine-point lead in the final minute and losing 97-96 on a half-court buzzer-beater. “History is part of the journey,” Taiwan head coach Gianluca Tucci said when asked about the 2022 collapse of the team, who he did
STUMBLE: World No. 2 Coco Gauff confidently won her first set against seventh-seed Italian Jasmine Paolini before being overcome in the second and third sets World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and second-ranked Coco Gauff were sent crashing out of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Friday, while Carlos Alcaraz fought off a fierce challenge from Andrey Rublev to reach the semi-finals. Top seed and defending champion Sabalenka had no answer for Elena Rybakina, falling to the 2022 Wimbledon champion 6-1, 6-4. Reigning French Open champion Gauff had 16 double faults in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 exit at the hands of seventh-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini. Spain’s second-ranked Alcaraz had his difficulties, but he broke Rublev in the final game of a tense duel to emerge a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 winner
Taiwan’s national basketball team on Wednesday suffered a heartbreaking loss, ending their FIBA Asia Cup run after Iran staged a dramatic comeback to secure a 78-75 victory in the quarter-finals at King Abdullah Sports City in Saudi Arabia. Taiwan were in front for 38 minutes, 30 seconds of the 40-minute game. Iran only took the lead in the final minute, but it was enough to knock Taiwan out of the tournament. With the win, Iran advanced to tomorrow’s semi-finals, when they face Australia. The loss ended a promising campaign for Taiwan, who had been aiming for their first semi-final appearance since the 2013 FIBA
RSS