British-Taiwanese player Joanna Garland on Tuesday crashed out of the opening round of the Libema Open in the Netherlands, after fighting through two rounds of qualifiers.
Garland, who was already Taiwan’s highest-ranked women’s singles player at world No. 175 in May, shot up 28 spots in the rankings to world No. 147 as of Monday after she last month became the first Taiwanese to clinch a victory in a main singles draw of the French Open since 2020.
Garland, the 11th seed in qualifying, punched her way into the opening round of the grass-court tournament, with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Russia’s Ekaterina Yashina on Saturday and a dominant 6-0, 6-3 win over Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Photo: AFP
However, on Tuesday Garland struggled to keep up in a difficult matchup against Canada’s Bianca Andreescu, who won 6-1, 6-3 in 74 minutes.
Meanwhile, at Queen’s Club in London, Emma Raducanu had a comfortable 6-1, 6-2 win over Spain’s Cristina Bucsa, as top tier women’s tennis returned to Queen’s Club for the first time since 1973.
The home crowd had plenty to cheer for with Katie Boulter and Heather Watson also winning their first-round matches.
Photo: Reuters
“To have the women back here, it feels very special,” said Boulter, the current British No. 1.
On Monday, Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and partner Jiang Xianyu of China crashed out of the opening round of women’s doubles, losing 6-4, 6-2 to the British duo of Raducanu and Boulter.
Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Veronika Kudermetova of Russia also lost a close opener, with Australia’s Storm Hunter and Desirae Krawczyk of the US winning 6-3, 3-6, 10-4.
MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Warriors’ coach Kerr said his 91-year-old mother criticized him for his attitude toward officials that led to his ejection from Monday’s game Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday rescued the Oklahoma City Thunder with a game-tying buzzer-beater before finishing with 46 points in a 129-125 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz. The reigning NBA champions looked to be heading for a third straight loss after the Jazz inched into a 114-112 lead following Lauri Markkanen’s layup with just three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However, NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander drained a superb 13-foot jump shot to tie it up at 114-114 as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander then took over in the extra period with nine points as the Western
Manchester City have confirmed defender Josko Gvardiol suffered a broken leg in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium. Gvardiol was one of two City centerbacks who went off injured in the second half, along with Ruben Dias, before Enzo Fernandez scored a stoppage-time equalizer for the visitors. The draw left second-placed City six points behind English Premier League leaders Arsenal. City, announcing Gvardiol sustained a tibial fracture to his right leg, added in a statement issued on Monday: “The defender will have surgery later this week and assessment remains ongoing to ascertain the full extent of the
His team were knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in agonizing fashion on Tuesday, but the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DR Congo) human statue Michel Kuka Mboladinga would be remembered as the tournament’s most remarkable supporter. The colorfully dressed Kuka has earned fame as the fan who stands completely immobile throughout his team’s games, looking toward the sky with his right arm raised and palm open. He has become a media star and on Tuesday was accompanied by a delegation of several hundred Congolese supporters whose trip to Morocco was paid for by the country’s government. They took their
Bangladesh will not play their Twenty20 World Cup matches in India after Mustafizur Rahman was released by his Indian Premier League team amid growing tensions between the countries, Bangladesh’s sports adviser Asif Nazrul said on Sunday. Kolkata Knight Riders said on Saturday they had released the Bangladeshi bowler after being told to do so by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Bangladesh are scheduled to play three Twenty20 World Cup matches in Kolkata next month, with the Feb. 7-March 8 tournament being cohosted by India and Sri Lanka. “Bangladesh will not go to India to play the