Russian second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova on Thursday beat defending champion Linda Noskova 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-2 at the Monterrey Open to secure her place in the semi-finals of the US Open tune-up event.
Alexandrova, 14th in the world rankings, started the decider brightly after two tightly contested sets and while Czech Noskova fought back to level at 2-2, the Russian regained control to seal the victory in just over two hours at the WTA 500 event.
“I’m really glad that I could make it through, even in three sets, because it was difficult today — she served so well, she hit so hard from the baseline that sometimes there was nothing I could do,” Alexandrova said.
Photo: EPA
Next up for Alexandrova is Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic, who carved out a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 win over Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic.
Russian Diana Shnaider also progressed to the semi-finals after fighting back from a set down and saving five match points against Elise Mertens to triumph 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/4) in a three-hour encounter with the Belgian fifth seed.
“Very happy, satisfied and proud to get the win today. I think the level of tennis was huge today,” the third seed said.
World No. 22 Shnaider next faces Alycia Parks after the American beat Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova 6-2, 7-5.
Shnaider holds a 2-1 record against Parks, including a straight-sets victory at Indian Wells, California, earlier this year.
“I’ve played her a couple of times — she’s a great player. I keep telling my self to stay within myself and not really worry about my opponents,” Shnaider said.
In Cleveland, Ohio, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Jiang Xinyu of China advanced to the final of the women’s doubles at the Tennis in the Land tournament by rallying from a set down to defeat Chinese duo Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 10-3.
The second seeds converted two of seven break points and took advantage of their opponents’ eight double faults.
In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Sebastian Korda stepped up his comeback with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Miomir Kecmanovic to reach the semi-finals.
The 25-year-old American, out of action since Roland Garros because of a stress fracture in his right shin, improved to 2-1 against the Serb as he builds up to the US Open.
“I think it was a great match,” said Korda, through to the last four for the first time since reaching the final in Adelaide, Australia, in January.
“I thought I executed pretty well, came to the net quite a bit and tried to stay aggressive. Miomir is an unbelievable returner, so a high first-serve percentage was crucial today and I think I served pretty well,” he said.
Korda, seeded 11th, next faces Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics, who beat Spain’s Jaume Munar 7-5, 6-3.
France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard battled back in the first set then pulled away for a 7-6 (10/8), 6-2 victory over Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic to book his semi-final berth.
Ninth seed Mpetshi Perricard trailed 1-5 in the first-set tiebreaker, saving four set points as he pocketed the set.
The 22-year-old dominated in the second, finishing with 15 aces to line up a meeting with either China’s Bu Yunchaokete or Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands.
Van de Zandschulp led Bu 6-3, 4-3 when rain halted their quarter-final and play was suspended for the day.
Additional reporting by staff writer
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper on Monday published an essay about Chinese basketball it said was written by LeBron James, but a representative for the NBA star said on Thursday that the article was based on a series of interviews. The paper, better known as the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, had said James authored the essay, “Basketball is a Bridge that Connects Us,” a tribute to Chinese players and fans of the sport written in the first person. “LeBron James Pens an Article in the People’s Daily,” read a post published on the newspaper’s official WeChat account. On Thursday, a representative
RSS