Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic yesterday laid down a marker for the Australian Open with a dominant 6-0, 6-2 win over Daria Kasatkina in the final of the Adelaide International.
Bencic, who will move back into the top 10 after this tournament, overwhelmed the higher-ranked Russian in 67 minutes of almost flawless tennis.
She broke Kasatkina’s first service game and then raced through the opening set as the Russian offered almost no resistance.
Photo: AFP
Kasatkina, the world No. 8, had no answers to the power and depth of Bencic’s groundstrokes, and did not get on the scoreboard until the ninth game of the match.
And although she was able to offer more of a challenge in the second set, Kasatkina could do nothing to stop Bencic claiming her sixth title on the WTA tour.
Bencic said her success this week would help her heading into the Australian Open, which is to begin tomorrow.
“It’s my best result before the Australian Open and I’ve had the most matches going into it,” she said. “It helps me to be confident and to know and believe in myself. This is great, and I won this tournament, but in Melbourne it starts again.”
HOBART INTERNATIONAL
AP, HOBART, Australia
American Lauren Davis yesterday claimed her second WTA title six years after her first, beating Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto 7-6 (7/0), 6-2 in the Hobart International final.
The 29-year-old Davis upset fourth-seeded and 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens in the first round and did not drop a set all week. It was Davis’ first WTA title since winning the Auckland event in 2017.
“We put in a lot of hard work over the off-season, and ... over the past several years. To see the fruition of our hard work paying off is a really good feeling,” Davis said.
Both players were unable to convert several break-point chances in a tense first set before the 84th-ranked Davis ran through the tiebreaker to love. She kept the momentum going in the second set, breaking in the second game.
Cocciaretto, ranked 67th, was playing her first WTA final after a strong run featuring wins over third-seeded Alize Cornet in the first round and former Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin in the semi-finals.
The 21-year-old Italian, who played the match with strapping on her left thigh, but did not appear hampered, faces Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the first round of the Australian Open, which is to begin tomorrow.
Davis becomes the fourth qualifier in the past 11 years to win the trophy in Hobart, following Mona Barthel (2012), Garbine Muguruza (2014) and Elise Mertens (2017).
Davis is to play 54th-ranked Danka Kovinic in the first round of the Australian Open.
The win “gives me a ton of confidence,” Davis said. “I did a really good job of staying disciplined throughout the tournament. Going into next week I honestly feel pretty fresh, I don’t feel too tired at all.”
Rugby organizers in Taiwan hope that a tournament in Singapore next week would be the catalyst to boost the sport in the nation. However, with a team of mostly university students up against more experienced players from their two opponents, Taiwan face a stern challenge at the first edition of the Unions Cup. Taiwan coach Huang Chi-hsang at a training session at the University of Taipei yesterday said that the other two teams — Singapore and Thailand — can draw on a wider pool of players, including those with overseas experience. Taiwan captain Chien Tzu-fan is one of the older hands on the
KING OF QUEEN’S: In London, Tommy Paul became the first US player to win the Queen’s Club Wimbledon warm-up since Sam Querrey in 2010 Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium on Sunday claimed the Rothesay Classic doubles title in Birmingham, England, while Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva won her first senior grass-court women’s singles title. Top seeds and reigning Australian Open champions Hsieh and Mertens defeated Zhang Shuai of China and Miyu Kato of Japan 6-1, 6-3 at the Edgbaston Priory Club in 59 minutes. “I’ve already played two doubles finals here and I lost all of them, so I’m very happy to win this one,” Mertens told the Lawn Tennis Association Web site. “Birmingham is of course very important in the lead up to Wimbledon,
Four of the P.League+’s six teams and all five of the T1 League’s clubs have signed a letter of intent to join a proposed new basketball league, New Taipei Kings chairman Walter Wang said on Saturday. The planned league of at least 10 teams would include the Kings, which Wang founded, and one from Southeast Asia, he told a news conference in New Taipei City. It is time to take professional basketball in Taiwan to the next level by forming a new league, he said, adding that he has been in discussions with many team owners and was working to convince the
Taiwanese world No. 3 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Belgian partner Elise Mertens on Saturday dominated Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia to advance to the final at the Rothesay Classic Birmingham. Top seeds Hsieh and Mertens — who are eyeing their third doubles title this year after victories at BNP Paribas Open and the Australia Open — were to play Japan’s Miyu Kato and China’s Zhang Shuai in the final on Ann Jones Centre Court last night after press time. Hsieh and Mertens beat Muhammad and Sutjiadi 6-1, 6-2 in a swift 57 minutes at Edgbaston