TENNIS
Swaitek races to quarters
Second-ranked Iga Swiatek dropped only two games and advanced to the quarter-finals of the China Open by thrashing Magda Linette 6-1, 6-1 yesterday. She next faces either ninth-seeded Carolina Garcia or Anhelina Kalinina tomorrow. Swiatek raced into a 5-0 lead in the first set and snuffed out any hope of an unlikely comeback when she forced her fellow Pole to fire a forehand long. The four-time Grand Slam champion then presided over a second-set masterclass, blitzing an exhausted Linette with an unrelenting salvo of mighty groundstrokes to wrap up the match in just over an hour. World No. 4 Jessica Pegula crashed out with a 6-4, 6-2 defeat to Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who faces Liudmila Samsonova in the last eight after the Russian defeated Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 in a match that took nearly three hours. Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina defeated Russia’s Mirra Andreeva 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. The men’s singles final between Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Russia’s Daniil Medvedev was delayed and was not over as of press time last night.
TENNIS
Polmans hits umpire
Australian Marc Polmans yesterday said he had apologized to the chair umpire after accidentally hitting him in the face with a ball in a Shanghai Masters qualifying match on Tuesday. The world No. 140 was leading Italian Stefano Napolitano after winning the first set when he hit a volley into the net on his second match point. The Australian then hit the ball in anger as it bounced back from the net. His errant hit narrowly missed the ball person before hitting chair umpire Ben Anderson in the face. Anderson was apparently not seriously injured. Polmans was immediately disqualified. “An update from me — the umpire, Ben, has accepted my apology for my actions — he knows it was unintentional and I shanked the ball on the frame in frustration in the heat of the moment,” Polmans wrote on social media platform X yesterday. “We both move on. It was a high pressure situation and I should have reacted better.” Polmans would forfeit all prize money and ranking points picked up during the qualifying tournament. He could still face further punishment from the ATP for the incident.
OLYMPICS
Bedbug sightings spark furor
A rash of bedbug sightings across France is causing paranoia among travelers and becoming a sore spot for the government as Paris prepares to host the Olympics next year. Videos that appear to show the bloodsucking insects crawling over seats on the Paris Metro and a high-speed train have gone viral on social media in the past few weeks, and some Metro passengers posted videos on TikTok vowing to stay standing. Public transport operator RATP, which runs Paris’s subway, trams and buses said in a statement that it had investigated, but “no cases of bedbugs have been confirmed to date.” While it is unclear whether infestations are up significantly, it has become a political issue in France, which is hosting the Rugby World Cup. French Minister Delegate for Transport Clement Beaune was to hold an emergency meeting with public transportation operators yesterday to discuss how to tackle the issue.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
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