The Chan sisters cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open yesterday, while fellow Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei bounced back from her defeat to Serena Williams in the singles on Wednesday.
Second seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan took just 45 minutes to complete a 6-1, 6-1 rout of Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands in front of a sizeable crowd of Taiwanese fans on Court 15 at Melbourne Park.
The Taiwanese duo served five aces and won six of 10 break points, winning 52 of the 75 points contested to advance to a second-round clash with Ukrainian pairing Kateryna Bondarenko and Olga Savchuk, who defeated Alize Cornet of France and Magda Linette of Poland 6-4, 6-0.
With EVA Airways one of the pairing’s main sponsors, elder sister Yung-jan dedicated the victory to Evergreen Group founder Chang Yung-fa, who passed away on Wednesday aged 88, as well as the sisters’ Taiwanese supporters.
“We’d like to thank our Taiwanese fans at the Australian Open, as well as back in Taiwan, for cheering us on. We have made a good start and we’ll continue to strive for good results,” Yung-jan wrote on Facebook.
Hsieh and Oksana Kalashnikova survived a second-set wobble to also advance on Court 20.
The Taiwanese-Georgian duo edged past dangerous Japanese pairing Misaki Doi and Nao Hibino 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5) in 1 hour, 41 minutes.
Hsieh and Kalashnikova saved two of five break points and converted three of six, winning 86 of the 167 points contested to set up a tough second-round clash today against fourth seeds Timea Babos of Hungary and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, who ousted Vera Dushevina of Russia and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5.
It was not such a good day for Taiwan’s Chan Chin-wei and Kurumi Nara of Japan as they fell at the first hurdle, succumbing to a 6-1, 6-4 defeat to Vania King of the US and Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia.
Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital. There were no such celebrations this year when the defending champions on board LawConnect won the race in the early hours of yesterday morning, as it came about 24 hours after two sailors died on separate boats in sail boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the race. LawConnect, a 100-foot super maxi skippered by Australian tech millionaire Christian Beck, sailed up the River Derwent at just after 2:30am.
‘BOWLINE’ AND ‘ARCTOS’: Roy Quaden was hit on the head by a boom, while Nick Smith was struck by the main sheet and thrown across the boat amid rough seas Two sailors have been killed in separate incidents in the treacherous Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, officials said yesterday, as a string of yachts retired in powerful winds and high seas. One of the crew members, 55-year-old Roy Quaden on Flying Fish Arctos, was hit on the head by a boom as the fleet raced down the New South Wales coast, race organizers said. The other man, 65-year-old Nick Smith, was struck by the main sheet aboard Bowline and thrown across the boat, said David Jacobs, vice commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. “Unfortunately, he hit his head on the winch, and
Liverpool on Thursday powered seven points clear at the top of the Premier League as the title favorites survived a scare in their 3-1 win against Leicester City, while Bruno Fernandes was sent off in Manchester United’s dismal 2-0 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Erling Haaland missed a penalty as crisis-torn Manchester City failed to end their dismal run with a 1-1 draw against Everton, but it was United’s travails and Liverpool’s remarkable run that took center-stage. Arne Slot’s side were shocked by Jordan Ayew’s early strike at Anfield, but the leaders recovered their composure to equalize just before the interval through Cody
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
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