TENNIS
Hsieh Su-wei advances
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic defeated sisters Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching at the Madrid Open yesterday. Hsieh and Strycova won 1-6, 6-2, 10-3 against their Taiwanese opponents, setting up a round-of-16 match on Wednesday against Indonesia’s Aldila Sutjiadi and Miyu Kato of Japan, who advanced after Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australian Ellen Perez retired with the score at 6-2, 4-1. In the women’s singles, world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka booked her place in the fourth round with an entertaining 6-4, 7-5 win over Camila Osorio. Sabalenka, who beat Osorio comfortably at Wimbledon in 2021 in their only other meeting, struggled early, but regained her composure to take the first set and the match.
BASEBALL
Giants manager gets lost
San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler got lost on the way to training in Mexico City on Friday ahead of their two-day series against the San Diego Padres. He took the subway from the team’s hotel in the Polanco, an upscale part of Mexico City, to Alfredo Harp Helu Stadium ahead of the series opener, but got lost on the way. He had some tacos and coffee at about 2pm, then got directions to the ballpark from his iPad, he said. “Obviously there [were] no other English speakers on the train, but there’s some sort of notification and everybody spilled off the train like six stops before I needed to get off,” Kapler said. Apparently, subway maintenance meant the rail service stopped there. “I figured that that was some sort of normal procedure, but I wasn’t ready for it. So I kind of followed the herd and then ended up in a line for buses. And then I ended up on a bus,” Kapler said. He was the last member of the Giants to arrive to the stadium.
CYCLING
Trek-Segafredo cut Tiberi
The Trek-Segafredo team have “parted ways” with Italian Antonio Tiberi a couple of months after suspending the former junior world champion for allegedly killing his neighbor’s cat by shooting it with an air rifle. The team suspended Tiberi in February for 20 days over the incident and on Friday they cut ties with the 21-year-old altogether. “Trek-Segafredo and Antonio Tiberi have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately, after the rider’s actions during his suspension did not meet our criteria for a return to competition,” the team said in a statement. The cat had belonged Federico Pedini Amati, a minister in the San Marino government and a former head of state. Tiberi last month apologized for the incident in an Instagram post.
SOCCER
Dortmund’s hopes dented
Borussia Dortmund’s Bundesliga title hopes were dealt a blow on Friday against VfL Bochum 1848 after a 1-1 draw. Bochum goalkeeper Manuel Riemann helped gain his team an important point in their battle against relegation, but Dortmund missed the chance to build a four-point lead before Bayern Munich play today. Bayern can reclaim the lead with four games remaining if they beat last-placed Hertha BSC in Munich.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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