Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan finally broke her Wimbledon duck on Monday, winning her first singles match in four tries after seemingly being cursed by draws that put her up against top-10 stars Maria Sharapova (2007), Dinara Safina (2008) and Marion Bartoli (last year) in previous first rounds.
Chan reached the second round for the first time, where she will play Russian 12th seed Nadia Petrova, after a convincing 6-0, 6-2 win over Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder.
It was only her third victory in 16 singles matches in Grand Slam events.
Chan was entranced by the television pictures of the tournament as a youngster, saying the likes of German icon Steffi Graf helped feed her ambition to play at the All England Club.
And the 20-year-old, who had fallen at the first hurdle at this championship four times, says her game will only improve when she meets Petrova.
“I was inspired by Jana Novotna and Steffi Graf,” Chan said after her victory. “I was very, very young and when I was watching I would point to the television and say ‘I am going to play on that court.’”
“You never know how far you can go but the most difficult thing is the first round. That is the hardest mentally. I will play better in the second round,” she said.
The No. 1 Taiwanese female player converted five break points out of seven and saved three break points on her own serve en route to a comfortable win over her Swiss opponent on Monday.
She expressed her admiration for another Swiss player, Roger Federer, the six-time Wimbledon champion who came back after being two sets down to defeat Alejandro Falla on Monday.
“Watching Federer playing is a pleasure. He is truly a king on the court,” she said.
Chan also praised Federer for his ability to balance his career and family while also treating the fans well, saying that he signs autographs patiently for each of his fans.
“He is a role model to look up to, whether on or off court,” she said.
This is the first time Chan has progressed into the second round of a Grand Slam tournament this year after early exits in Australia and France.
BOOT TO FACE: Wilfried Singo said that his actions were not intentional, ‘but I was able to see afterwards that’ the ’keeper had a significant face injury Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday came from behind to extend their unbeaten start to the Ligue 1 season with a 4-2 win away against AS Monaco, but lost goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to a gruesome facial injury. The bloodied Italy international was left requiring 10 staples after sustaining lacerations to the right side of his face when he was caught by the studs of Monaco defender Wilfried Singo. “I don’t know if the referee was badly positioned, but VAR [video assistant referee] needed to intervene, you have to protect the players,” PSG captain Marquinhos said. “To not give a red in a situation like
Cheng Chen Chin-mei on Saturday beamed broadly as she hoisted a 35kg weightlifting bar to her waist, dropped it and waved confidently to the enthusiastic crowd in a competition in Taipei. Cheng Chen, 90, has been pumping iron since last year, encouraged by her granddaughter to take up the sport after she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. She credits the regimen with helping to fix her posture. Three generations of her family were among a couple of hundred people watching Cheng Chen and 44 others aged 70 or older in the weightlifting competition. In the three-round event, Cheng Chen lifted as much as
Zach LaVine on Thursday scored a season-high 36 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 117-108 upset victory against defending NBA champions the Boston Celtics, while LeBron James once again made history. LaVine went 11-of-19 from the floor and made six three-pointers while adding six rebounds and four assists for the Bulls, who improved to 13-15 for the season. “We’re a good team,” LaVine said. “We’re competitive and we’re a resilient group.” Ayo Dosunmu contributed 17 points for the Bulls, while Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and 14 rebounds for Chicago. The Bulls outscored Boston 35-22 in the fourth quarter to rally past
Teenage sensation Luke “The Nuke” Littler on Saturday set a tournament record with a 140.91 set average as he secured a second-round win in the PDC World Darts Championship with a 3-1 victory over fellow Englishman Ryan Meikle late. The 17-year-old came close to winning the World Championship in January, but lost in the final to Luke Humphries. Now, he has started the latest edition on a high note. Tournament favorite Littler fired in four maximum 180s, while winning three consecutive legs in 11, 10 and 11 darts, setting a record set average and finishing with an overall average of 100.85. “It was
RSS