Taiwan's Chen Ti defeated Alex Kuznetsov but compatriot Jimmy Wang lost to Stefano Galvani in the first round of qualifying for the Wimbledon men's singles in Roehampton, London, on Monday.
Chen beat his American opponent 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a clash with No. 17 seed Jan Hernych. The Czech, ranked more than 150 places higher than the 25-year-old from Keelung, was a straight sets victor over Andrew Coelho of Australia.
Chen, who has yet to play at Wimbledon, needs to win two more matches before he earns a place in the draw for this year’s tournament.
Wang suffered a straight sets loss to his 204th-ranked Italian opponent, taking only one game in the first set and two in the second.
Wang, who has struggled with injury of late, has seen his ranking slip from 85 two years ago to 225.
More than 250 players are vying this week at Roehampton for 16 places in the men’s singles, 12 in the women’s singles’ and places for four pairs in the men’s and ladies’ doubles.
A number of famous names have gained entry into the Championships via the qualifiers over the years including John McEnroe in 1977, Boris Becker in 1984 and Goran Ivanisevic in 1988.
In 1999 Jelena Dokic reached the quarter-finals as a qualifier while Alexandra Stevenson went one better by reaching the semis.
Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun, whose ranking automatically qualifies him for a Wimbledon place, lost in straight sets to Dmitry Tursunov of Russia in the first round of the ATP tournament in Nottingham on Monday.
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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