Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia on Friday advanced to the final in the women’s doubles at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with a win over a Chinese pair in the semi-finals.
The third-seeded Taiwanese-Latvian duo were to play Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament, with the match scheduled to begin at about press time last night.
On Friday, Hsieh and Ostapenko eliminated Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan 6-4, 4-6, 10-2 in 95 minutes.
Photo: EPA-EFE
In the women’s singles, Russian teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva continued her giant-slaying exploits, upsetting Kazakhstani sixth seed Elena Rybakina 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the semi-finals.
Denmark’s Clara Tauson set up a final showdown with Andreeva after overcoming Karolina Muchovaher 6-4, 6-7 (7/4), 6-3.
Andreeva and Tauson were to play after press time last night.
Andreeva, who had stunned five-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek in the quarters and former Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova in the round-of-32, is the youngest player to reach a WTA 1000 Final.
In Brazil, Argentine Francisco Comesana on Friday stunned Australian Open finalist and world No. 2 Alexander Zverev with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win in the quarter-finals of the Rio Open, the biggest win of his career so far.
Comesana, ranked 86th in the world, turned heads in his Grand Slam debut match last year when he handed sixth seed Andrey Rublev a first-round exit from Wimbledon.
Friday’s win in Rio de Janeiro is the 24-year-old’s first victory over a top-five ranked opponent.
“I was repeating to myself throughout the match: ‘How good it is to be alive,’” Comesana said in his post-match interview. “So, I was enjoying the entire match.”
Comesana was to play Alexandre Muller in the semi-finals yesterday, with the Frenchman beating Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 7-5, 6-1.
Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin missed out on the semis, losing 6-4, 6-1 to Argentina’s Sebastian Baez, who was to play compatriot Camilo Ugo Carabelli.
After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open on Wednesday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible. “Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the women’s singles quarter-finals. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.” Sabalenka’s wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while
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