Hsieh Su-wei yesterday claimed back-to-back victories at the Australian Open, while fellow Taiwanese Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan also triumphed on their bow at the first Grand Slam of the season.
Taiwanese No. 1 Hsieh advanced to the third round of the women’s singles with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Laura Siegemund of Germany in 1 hour, 33 minutes.
The Kaohsiung-born 28th seed hit 25 winners and took advantage of her opponent’s 38 unforced errors, while saving eight of 10 break points and converting four of 11 to advance to a third-round clash with reigning US Open champion Naomi Osaka.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The Japanese fourth seed took just 64 minutes to see off the challenge of Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek 6-2, 6-4.
“I thought I served alright, this was my first time playing her and I’m just happy to win to be honest,” Osaka said after her victory.
Osaka is one of nine players in contention to overtake Simona Halep and claim the world No. 1 ranking at the end of the tournament, though she would have to reach the quarter-finals for the first time to have a chance.
The Japanese won her only previous meeting with Hsieh on the grass courts in Surbiton, England, in 2015, but is expecting a tough test.
“She’s been playing really well recently, so I just hope that it’s exciting,” Osaka said.
Hsieh later yesterday returned to Court 15 alongside Abigail Spears as the eighth seeds advanced to the second round of the women’s doubles with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Bernarda Pera of the US and Rebecca Peterson of Sweden in 1 hour, 24 minutes.
The Taiwanese-American duo won 96 percent of points on their first serve, converted three of eight break points and hit 26 winners to advance to a second-round clash with Samantha Stosur of Australia and Zhang Shuai of China, who defeated Slovakian duo Viktoria Kuzmova and Magdalena Rybarikova 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.
Also in the first round, the Chan sisters advanced with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Australian wild-cards Ellen Perez and Arina Rodionova in 1 hour, 26 minutes on Court 12.
The Taiwanese seventh seeds took advantage of their opponents’ five double faults and five unforced errors, saved all 10 break points they faced and converted both of the break points they created to advance to a second-round clash with Chinese duo Jiang Xinyu and Wang Qiang, who defeated Pauline Parmentier of France and Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-3, 6-4.
Taiwan last night defeated Cuba 2-0 in their World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 Group B game at the Taipei Dome and finished the group second. At the Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium, South Korea yesterday defeated Australia 5-2, while Japan last night won 11-3 against the Dominican Republic. On Sunday, Taiwan scored two three-run homers in an 11-3 blowout win over Australia at the Taipei Dome to advance to the Super Round. Fresh off a defeat at the hands of defending Premier12 champions and Group B winners Japan the previous day, Taiwan’s offense came out slugging against Australia from the
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
Taiwan scored two three-run homers in an 11-3 blowout win over Australia at the Taipei Dome last night to advance to the Super Round of the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 tournament. Fresh off a defeat at the hands of defending Premier12 champion and Group B winner Japan the previous day, Taiwan’s offense came out slugging against Australia from the off. After taking a walk to first base, Taiwan’s Chen Chieh- hsien (陳傑憲) then stole second before Tseng Song-en (曾頌恩) drew a walk to first in the top of the first inning. Chen then
TWO-NIL LOSS: Taiwan’s best chance to score came at the top of the fifth with the bases loaded and one out, but Venezuela’s Liarvis Breto got out of the jam Taiwan yesterday suffered a shutout 2-0 loss to Venezuela in the opening game of the WBSC Premier12 Super Round at the Tokyo Dome. Taiwan had seven hits, one more than Venezuela’s six, but catcher Carlos Perez’s two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning delivered the only runs scored by both teams and secured victory for Venezuela. Taiwan’s best chance came at the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and only one out. However, Venezuela reliever Liarvis Breto struck out Chen Chen-wei before reliever Pedro Garcia finished the inning by allowing an infield flyball by Lin
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