Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open.
Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2.
Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16.
Photo: Reuters
Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian Wells victory, which followed her and Mertens winning the title at the Australian Open, where she also won the mixed doubles title with Poland’s Jan Zielinski.
Meanwhile, Chan Hao-ching of Taiwan and Veronika Kudermetova of Russia yesterday crashed out of the round of 16, losing 7-6 (7/6), 6-1 to eighth seeds Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain.
In men’s singles on Saturday, Rafael Nadal defeated Alex de Minaur from Barcelona 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 to extend his stay in Madrid on his final appearance at his home tournament, but said he still “needs time” to return to his competitive peak.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion advanced to a third-round meeting with Argentina’s Pedro Cachin.
In front of a capacity crowd that included the King of Spain, Felipe VI, French soccer icon Zinedine Zidane and Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior, Nadal dug deep to dismiss the world No. 11, despite admitting ahead of the tournament he was still struggling with numerous physical issues.
It was an impressive performance from the 37-year-old, but he immediately dismissed the idea it was anywhere near his vintage form.
“No, not yet. It needs time,” Nadal said on court. “To play over two hours means a lot to me and the atmosphere here is just a joke. Just step by step and let’s see how I recover.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas suffered a surprise second-round exit at the hands of world No. 118 Thiago Monteiro, while top seed Jannik Sinner extended his unbeaten record against fellow Italians to 13-0 by defeating his Davis Cup teammate and good friend Lorenzo Sonego 6-0, 6-3 in just 69 minutes.
Last year’s women’s finalist Iga Swiatek eased past Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 6-1 to book a fourth-round meeting with home favorite Sara Sorribes Tormo, while Ons Jabeur, the 2022 champion, wiped a 0-3 deficit in the first set, and 0-2 and 2-4 deficits in the decider to overcome Canada’s Leylah Fernandez 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 and move into the last 16.
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Less than a week after splashing out a world-record fee for Naomi Girma, Chelsea has spent big again to bring England midfielder Keira Walsh back to the English Women’s Super League. Walsh left European champions Barcelona after more than two years to join Chelsea for a reported ￡400,000 (US$496,000) on Friday. Walsh was the world’s most expensive player for two years after moving to Barcelona from Manchester City for a reported ￡400,000 in 2022. That status now belongs to Girma, the US defender who cost Chelsea a reported ￡900,000 to sign from the San Diego Wave. Still, it means 27-year-old Walsh — a technically
Ousmane Dembele on Wednesday scored a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain romped to a 4-1 win at VfB Stuttgart and qualified for the UEFA Champions League knockout stages. PSG were at risk of elimination after a disappointing league stage, with three losses and a draw, but were utterly dominant against an outclassed Stuttgart side as they confirmed their place in the playoffs. With six minutes gone, Bradley Barcola headed PSG in front after Desire Doue stood a cross up at the back post following a corner. Stuttgart probed for an equalizer, but PSG hit on the counterattack, Dembele tapping a Barcola pass into an
RSS