Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated.
Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set.
She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.
Photo: AP
Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book her place in the final, which was to be played after press time last night.
Zheng continued her remarkable season by reaching the decider in her first appearance. The Chinese player has won 31 of her 36 matches since Wimbledon, more than anyone else on the tour.
Zheng struck nine aces as she defeated a tired-looking Krejcikova in 1 hour, 40 minutes.
Photo: EPA-EFE
In the women’s doubles at King Saud University, Taiwan’s hopes of a doubles crown were dashed as Chan and partner Veronika Kudermetova of Russia were ousted 6-0, 7-6 (7/5) by Taylor Townsend of the US and the Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova.
The match looked lie it was going to be over quickly when Siniakova and Townsend raced through the first set without dropping a game and were 4-2 in the second, but things got more difficult for them from there.
They needed seven match points to complete the win as Chan and Kudermetova staged a comeback — similar to their successful effort against Italian duo Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in the group stage to reach the semis.
Townsend and Siniakova were to play Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe after the Canadian-New Zealand duo beat Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 7-6 (9/7), 6-1.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Taiwan last night defeated Cuba 2-0 in their World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 Group B game at the Taipei Dome and finished the group second. At the Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium, South Korea yesterday defeated Australia 5-2, while Japan last night won 11-3 against the Dominican Republic. On Sunday, Taiwan scored two three-run homers in an 11-3 blowout win over Australia at the Taipei Dome to advance to the Super Round. Fresh off a defeat at the hands of defending Premier12 champions and Group B winners Japan the previous day, Taiwan’s offense came out slugging against Australia from the
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
Taiwan scored two three-run homers in an 11-3 blowout win over Australia at the Taipei Dome last night to advance to the Super Round of the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 tournament. Fresh off a defeat at the hands of defending Premier12 champion and Group B winner Japan the previous day, Taiwan’s offense came out slugging against Australia from the off. After taking a walk to first base, Taiwan’s Chen Chieh- hsien (陳傑憲) then stole second before Tseng Song-en (曾頌恩) drew a walk to first in the top of the first inning. Chen then
TWO-NIL LOSS: Taiwan’s best chance to score came at the top of the fifth with the bases loaded and one out, but Venezuela’s Liarvis Breto got out of the jam Taiwan yesterday suffered a shutout 2-0 loss to Venezuela in the opening game of the WBSC Premier12 Super Round at the Tokyo Dome. Taiwan had seven hits, one more than Venezuela’s six, but catcher Carlos Perez’s two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning delivered the only runs scored by both teams and secured victory for Venezuela. Taiwan’s best chance came at the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and only one out. However, Venezuela reliever Liarvis Breto struck out Chen Chen-wei before reliever Pedro Garcia finished the inning by allowing an infield flyball by Lin