Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan cruised through two matches to advance to the semi-finals of the Aegon International doubles on Thursday, but younger sister Chan Hao-ching crashed out in the opening round in Eastbourne, England.
Second seeds Chan Yung-jan and Martina Hingis took just 48 minutes to see off US duo Lauren Davis and Alison Riske 6-1, 6-2 in the first round, before returning to the grass courts to rout Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-0 in 49 minutes in the quarter-finals.
In their opener, the Taiwanese-Swiss duo saved two of three break points and converted five of five, while in the quarter-final they saved all four break points they faced and converted five of seven to set up a semi-final against Nicole Melichar of the US and Anna Smith of Britain, who they defeated in the Mallorca Open semi-finals last week on their way to claiming the title.
Photo: screen grab from Facebook
Chan Hao-ching and Monica Niculescu were ousted 6-3, 4-6, 10-6 by third seeds Timea Babos of Hungary and Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic in 1 hour, 16 minutes.
In the singles, Britain’s Johanna Konta enjoyed an extraordinary day, beating French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, then overcoming a bad fall to defeat world No. 1 Angelique Kerber to reach the semi-finals.
With Kerber losing, Simona Halep could have taken over the German’s top spot in the world rankings if she had gone on to reach the final of the event, but the Romanian missed out by losing to Caroline Wozniacki in three sets.
Konta, Britain’s big hope in the women’s singles at Wimbledon next week, proved the main attraction as she beat two Grand Slam winners in the space of a few hours.
Two days of rain delays on the south coast of England had left a punishing two-match schedule for most of the players, but Konta rose brilliantly to the challenge, first overcoming Ostapenko 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, before later eclipsing Kerber 6-3, 6-4.
However, Konta’s victory over top seed Kerber was accompanied by high drama when, while holding match point, she slipped and fell heavily on to her back while also hitting her head on the ground.
Lying on the turf and initially sobbing from the shock and the pain, the British No. 1 needed treatment as the match was halted for 10 minutes amid fears she might not be fit to continue.
Kerber was so concerned that she came around the net to help her distraught opponent, yet, remarkably, the groggy Konta rejoined the fray and won the next two points to set up a semi-final against Czech third seed Karolina Pliskova, who beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-7 (7/9), 6-2, 6-4 in their quarter-final.
“I slipped and hit my head, and it’s a bit sore,” Australian-born Konta, whose family moved to Eastbourne when she was a teenager, told the crowd. “It’s been a busy afternoon, we’ve played a lot of tennis and I’m looking forward to recovering the best I can.”
Wozniacki fought back from a set down against Halep to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 and reach the last four, where the Dane was to meet another Briton, Heather Watson, who beat Czech Barbora Strycova 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in the other quarter-final.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS