Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien on Tuesday dumped compatriot and second seed Hsieh Su-wei out of the women’s doubles at the Qatar Open to set up another potential Taiwanese showdown, while world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock defeat in the second round.
Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu, who earlier this year won the ASB Classic in Auckland and the Hobart International, defeated Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 10-5 in 1 hour, 29 minutes on Grandstand Court 3 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
Wu and Jiang on Sunday advanced to the round-of-16 with a 7-6 (7/7), 3-6, 10-6 victory over Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Japan’s Miyu Kato, while Hsieh and Ostapenko, last month’s Australian Open runners-up, advanced on a bye.
Photo: AFP
In the quarter-finals, Wu and Jiang are to face the winners of the round-of-16 match between Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Veronika Kudermetova of Russia against Luisa Stefani of Brazil and the US’ Peyton Stearns. They were to play after press time last night.
Chan and Kudermetova on Monday defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-4.
In women’s singles, Belarus’ Sabalenka was thwarted by Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) in a tense encounter lasting more than two-and-a-half hours.
The 26th-ranked Alexandrova picked herself up after going one set down to level in the second — but not before an unscheduled appearance by an inquisitive four-legged feline spectator.
With the score at 2-2, 40-30 to Sabalenka, a cat nonchalantly took center stage, inspecting proceedings courtside before sauntering off through the player’s entrance.
Alexandrova shrugged off the interruption to level the match, then held her nerve to force the deciding set to a tiebreak which she took 7-5.
Alexandrova’s reward was a last-16 date with Belgian Elise Mertens.
Also dumped out was Coco Gauff who lost in straight sets to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, while former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina eased into the last 16, after seeing off Peyton Stearns 6-2, 6-4
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,