Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and doubles partner Martina Hingis reached the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the the Internazionali BNL d’Italia yesterday.
The Taiwanese-Swiss pairing defeated Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia and Abigail Spears of the US 6-2, 6-4 to stay on track for back-to-back titles after winning the Mutua Madrid Open on Saturday last week.
In the men’s draw, third seed Stanislas Wawrinka became the latest high-profile casualty at on Thursday when the Swiss was knocked out in the third round by John Isner of the US, who also defeated Marin Cilic in the first quarter-final, which finished just before press time last night.
Photo: AFP
Isner took his ace count to 72 in three rounds as he powered past Wawrinka on Thursday 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.
He then battled into the semis yesterday with a 7-6 (7/3), 2-6, 7-6 (7/2) win over sixth seed Cilic.
Croatian Cilic defeated David Goffin 6-3, 6-4 in their quarter-final.
World No. 2 Novak Djokovic continued to look more like his old self after a slump as he saw off Spain’s Roberto Bautista-Agut 6-4, 6-4 on Court Centrale to reach the quarters for an 11th successive year.
He was to play Juan del Potro in the quarter-finals yesterday.
Favorite Rafael Nadal’s imperious start to the clay-court season continued as he maintained his unbeaten streak on the surface this year with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over 13th-seed Jack Sock of the US.
He was to play Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals, which began just after press time last night, with the Austrian having become a familiar foe after two previous meetings in the past three weeks.
Earlier there was disappointment for home fans as Fabio Fognini, who beat top seed Andy Murray on Tuesday, was outplayed 6-3, 6-3 by Germany’s Alexander Zverev.
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
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