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, and for us to get this title will give us confidence going into it. We’ve enjoyed our week here. We’ve had beautiful weather and a great atmosphere, so I just want to say thank you to the city of Birmingham.”
Photo: AFP
In the women’s singles final, Putintseva defeated Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1, 7-6 (10/8).
The 29-year-old’s previous two WTA Tour titles had come on clay courts, in Nurnberg in 2019 and Budapest in 2021, but on Sunday she prevailed in nearly 90 minutes on court after coming from 5-3 down — and saving two set points — in the second set.
The victory saw Putintseva become just the second unseeded Rothesay Classic champion in the past 10 years, following Beatriz Haddad Maia’s title run of 2022.
“I don’t know what I’m feeling because I wasn’t expecting this at all,” Putintseva said. “It’s great and it’s confusing because I’ve always been good on clay, but now all of a sudden, I’m good on grass. I’ll take that. It’s great.”
“It was a great game. I started so well, and then Ajla dialed up her level to the highest. She was playing really amazing, not giving me any time to think or to do something. The game was even in the end, and I was a bit more lucky,” she said.
It was a heartening week for the Australian, formerly No. 32 in the world rankings, after she missed most of last season following knee surgery and then had an operation to remove ovarian cysts.
In London, Tommy Paul added his name to a list of American tennis greats by winning the Queen’s Club men’s singles title after defeating Lorenzo Musetti 6-1, 7-6 (10/8).
Victory gave the fifth-seeded American his third ATP Tour title — and the biggest success of his career — after he won in straight sets after 88 minutes on court.
Paul became the first US player to win the prestigious Wimbledon warm-up tournament since Sam Querrey in 2010 as he joined a group of former American champions at Queen’s, including John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras — who all won Wimbledon as well.
“It means everything,” said Paul, who knocked out Britain’s Jack Draper in the quarter-finals. “Going through the hallways here in the locker room and the names on the wall, it’s unbelievable. It was my goal always to put my name next to them.”
The world No. 13 overtakes Taylor Fritz to become the new US No. 1.
Paul raced through the first set before Italian opponent Musetti worked his way back into the match.
The 27-year-old Paul failed to serve out the match at 5-4 up in the second set before coming back from 1-4 down in the tiebreak and saving a set point at 6-7.
Musetti saved two match points behind his own serve before Paul took the third to secure the title.
“This was definitely one of the nicest weeks of my career so far,” Musetti said. “Congratulations to Tommy, he deserved to win. I was struggling to get to his level. I saved face a bit at the end with the break. I was fighting really hard to get to the third set.”
The 22-year-old, who became a father in March, added: “I want to dedicate this week to my little boy Ludovico. I just want to go back and hug him.”
Two people died on Thursday after fans and police clashed outside the Estadio Monumental in Santiago ahead of a game in South America’s Copa Libertadores, Chilean authorities said. The fatalities happened shortly before the match between Chile’s Colo-Colo and Brazilian club Fortaleza, when police blocked about 100 fans when they attempted to enter the stadium. There were conflicting accounts of how the fatalities occurred, with local media reporting that one of the dead was a 13-year-old boy. The other victim was an 18-year-old woman, according to a relative at the hospital where she was treated. The fans died after being caught underneath a
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
Japan yesterday secured a second consecutive Billie Jean King Cup finals appearance with a 2-1 win over 2023 champions Canada, thanks to Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama’s 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Kayla Cross and Rebecca Marino in the qualifying doubles decider. Shibahara and Aoyama powered through the opening set 6-3, breaking twice for a quick 3-0 lead. Cross and Marino hit back in the second, edging it 7-5 to level the match, before the Japanese pair regained control in the third. Canada’s 18-year-old Victoria Mboko edged Shibahara 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5 in a marathon opening clash. Mboko fired eight aces to
RSS