Taiwanese eighth seed Hsieh Su-wei on Monday rallied from a set down to oust Kaia Kanepi in the opening round of the Internationaux de Strasbourg, while top seed Ashleigh Barty stepped up her French Open preparations with a ruthless display to cruise past Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum 6-4 6-4.
World No. 49 Hsieh had to fight back after losing the first set and took 2 hours, 14 minutes to complete a 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 victory over the Estonian world No. 51.
The Taiwanese mixed four aces with 10 double faults, saving seven of 12 break points and converting six of 13 to improve her career record over Kanepi to 3-1 after losing her previous match to the Estonian at last year’s US Open.
Hsieh faces Czech wild-card Lucie Safarova in the second round after the world No. 54 defeated Russian qualifier Marina Melnikova 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Safarova has a 4-0 career record against Hsieh, including victories last season in Nottingham, England, and Budapest.
Australian No. 1 Barty struck 24 winners and saved both break points she faced to seal her victory in 1 hour, 15 minutes.
The 22-year-old’s win set up a second-round encounter with in-form Istanbul Cup winner Pauline Parmentier, after the home favorite overcame China’s Wang Yafan 6-4, 7-6 (10/8).
“I’ve never played her before, but I know it’s probably the complete opposite game style to who I played today,” world No. 17 Barty said.
“For me, it’s another challenge. It’s always very tough playing French players in their country,” she said.
In the doubles, Taiwanese world No. 1 Latisha Chan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals, while younger sister Chan Hao-ching fell to a shock defeat on Monday.
Latisha Chan and Kumkhum defeated Liang Chen of China and Jessica Moore of Australia 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) in 1 hour, 32 minutes.
The Taiwanese-Thai duo saved three of six break points and converted four of eight, winning 74 of the 129 points contested to advance to a quarter-final against Makoto Ninomiya of Japan and Yana Sizikova of Russia, who stunned second seeds Shuko Aoyama of Japan and Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.
Top seeds Chan Hao-ching and Yang Zhaoxuan of China fell to a shock 3-6, 6-4, 10-2 loss to unseeded Romanians Mihaela Buzarnescu and Raluca Olaru.
Japanese badminton star Chiharu Shida on Tuesday told Chinese fans to “stop stalking” her, adding that she was “very scared” by the unwanted attention. Shida, who won women’s doubles bronze at the Paris Olympics last year, has a strong following in China partly because of her engagement with the local culture. The 27-year-old, currently competing at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, has been dubbed the “Badminton Goddess” by fans and media. She hit out at some supporters on Tuesday, accusing them in an Instagram post of taking their fandom too far. “Every time we compete in China we always experience the harm
Two people died on Thursday after fans and police clashed outside the Estadio Monumental in Santiago ahead of a game in South America’s Copa Libertadores, Chilean authorities said. The fatalities happened shortly before the match between Chile’s Colo-Colo and Brazilian club Fortaleza, when police blocked about 100 fans when they attempted to enter the stadium. There were conflicting accounts of how the fatalities occurred, with local media reporting that one of the dead was a 13-year-old boy. The other victim was an 18-year-old woman, according to a relative at the hospital where she was treated. The fans died after being caught underneath a
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have shown the team do not need star power to win trophies and with the French Ligue 1 title won with six games to spare, the French champions would look to finish the season without losing, manager Luis Enrique said on Saturday. A 1-0 victory over Angers SCO at the Parc des Princes helped PSG win their fourth straight Ligue 1 title and a record-extending 13th overall. PSG can still break Nantes’ 30-year-old record of 32 games unbeaten. Although Nantes lost one game en route to the title, no French club has ever gone an entire league
A potential European league could be a gold mine for the NBA as the top-flight North American league looks to muscle its way into a deep pool of talent across the Atlantic Ocean. The NBA is exploring the launch of a European league with world basketball governing body FIBA as a partner, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last week, with an eye toward a 16-team format made up of 12 permanent clubs and four qualifiers. The continent’s longstanding Euroleague quickly signaled its readiness to enter into talks with the NBA, even as it has balked at the idea of another league in
RSS