Former Grand Slam champions Victoria Azarenka and Elena Rybakina yesterday reached the semi-finals of the season-opening Brisbane International, but in contrasting fashion.
Azarenka took 2 hours, 30 minutes before finally outlasting third seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in the first match on Pat Rafter Arena.
The Brisbane tournament is a warmup for the Australian Open, which the 34-year-old Azarenka won in 2012 and 2013.
Photo: AP
Kazakhstan’s Rybakina was then handed a spot in the last four when her Russian opponent Anastasia Potapova withdrew with a stomach problem after losing the first set 6-1.
Azarenka was in control early as she took the first set with one break of serve, but as the match progressed Ostapenko began to find her range and deservedly leveled.
Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, was comfortable on serve in the third set, while Azarenka struggled to hold hers, but at 5-6 and serving to send the set into a tiebreak, the Latvian cracked and a poor service game handed the Belarusian victory.
Photo: AFP
Azarenka is to play top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the last four after she defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-4.
“I thought the quality of tennis was incredible,” Azarenka said. “She was blasting returns, blasting winners, so I had to stick in there. I was looking forward to seeing how my game was going to match up this year, and I think it’s pretty good.”
In the other quarter-final, Rybakina raced to a 4-1 lead when Potapova asked for the trainer to treat what appeared to be a stomach injury.
She played the next two games, but withdrew when 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina took the first set.
Rybakina next faces Linda Noskova, who defeated Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-3.
In the men’s singles, Russian Roman Safiullin beat Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 to set up a semi-final against top seed Holger Rune of Denmark, who defeated Australian qualifier James Duckworth 6-2, 7-6 (8/6).
ASB CLASSIC
AP, AUCKLAND, New Zealand
US Open champion Coco Gauff yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the ASB Classic with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Varvara Gracheva of France on a rainy quarter-finals day.
The top seed and defending champion needed only 24 minutes to win the first set and took the match in 52 minutes.
Gauff has not dropped a set at the tournament, and did not drop a set in winning the tournament last year.
Rain delayed the start of the match and was threatening at the end, but Gauff rushed to victory with dark clouds gathering, sending down five aces.
“I thought I served really well, probably the best so far at this tournament, which is something I was really working on in the off-season,” Gauff said. “Last year there was a lot more rain, so I was glad I was able to finish my match.”
Gauff is to play fellow American Emma Navarro in the semi-finals. Fourth seed Navarro beat Petra Martic of France 6-4, 4-3.
Navarro lost to Martic 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 when the pair met in Cincinnati in August last year, but she turned the tables yesterday with an authoritative display, putting 80 percent of her first serves in play and attacking Martic, particularly on her second serve.
“Tennis always keeps us on our toes, so you’ve got to be ready for things like rain delays,” Navarro said. “I was happy with my performance today, played my most comfortable tennis out here.”
Navarro rushed to a 4-0 lead in the second set before Martic claimed a service break, and the match went with serve until Navarro took the match on her third match point.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946