Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Barbara Strycova of the Czech Republic yesterday crashed out of the women’s doubles quarter-finals at the Rothesay Classic Birmingham.
Hsieh, who was fresh off her French Open doubles victory, and Strycova lost 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 to Storm Hunter of Australia and Alycia Parks of the US.
On Tuesday, Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Estonian partner Ingrid Neel exited in the round-of-16, losing 6-3, 6-0 to Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok.
Photo: EPA-EFE
In women’s singles on Tuesday, Ostapenko set up a second-round meeting with Venus Williams after overcoming grass-court rookie Linda Noskova 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.
“I’m finally back on one of my favorite surfaces,” Ostapenko said.
Her upcoming opponent, seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams, was handed a wild-card entry into Wimbledon yesterday, alongside world No. 3 Elina Svitolina.
Photo: Reuters
At the Queen’s Club Championships, Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday survived a scare against lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech, as Andy Murray’s winning streak on the grass was ended by Alex de Minaur.
Alcaraz was playing only his seventh match on grass and his first outside of Wimbledon as he prepares for the third Grand Slam tournament of the season next month.
Rinderknech, ranked 83 in the world, only found out he was playing the Spaniard hours before the match after Frenchman Arthur Fils, Alcaraz’s scheduled opponent, withdrew from the tournament.
The 27-year-old almost stunned the world No. 2, before Alcaraz edged through 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) in just more than two-and-a-half hours.
“It has been a really tough match, he has played four or five matches on the grass and this was my first one,” Alcaraz said.
Alcaraz was to face Czech Jiri Lehecka in the second round.
Murray had been on a 10-game winning streak after winning Challenger Tour events at Surbiton and Nottingham, but the former world No. 1 found the step up in quality too hard to handle as De Minaur eased to a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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