Taiwan’s Chan sisters advanced to the doubles final at the Hong Kong Open yesterday, while top seed and world No. 1 Angelique Kerber fell to a shock defeat in the quarter-finals of the singles.
Top seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan eased through the first set of their semi-final against fourth-seeded Japanese duo Shuko Aoyama and Makoto Ninomiya, but then had to rally from 5-1 down in the second before completing a 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) victory in 1 hour, 27 minutes.
The Taiwanese sisters, who failed to convert a match point at 6-5 in the second set and survived a set point against them in the tiebreak when Aoyama double-faulted, saved two of six break points and converted six of eight, winning 72 of the 132 points contested to advance to tomorrow’s final against either British duo Naomi Broady and Heather Watson or Nao Hibino of Japan and Aleksandrina Naydenova of Bulgaria, who are due to play their semi-final today.
Photo: AFP
In the singles, Kerber’s chances of finishing the year with the No. 1 ranking were dented when she fell to a shock 6-3, 6-1 defeat to eighth seed Daria Gavrilova of Australia in 1 hour, 14 minutes.
Also advancing were fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki, who defeated Wang Qiang 6-3, 7-5, and Kristina Mladenovic, who ousted Bethanie Mattek-Sands 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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