Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia on Friday advanced to the final in the women’s doubles at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with a win over a Chinese pair in the semi-finals.
The third-seeded Taiwanese-Latvian duo were to play Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament, with the match scheduled to begin at about press time last night.
On Friday, Hsieh and Ostapenko eliminated Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan 6-4, 4-6, 10-2 in 95 minutes.
Photo: EPA-EFE
In the women’s singles, Russian teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva continued her giant-slaying exploits, upsetting Kazakhstani sixth seed Elena Rybakina 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the semi-finals.
Denmark’s Clara Tauson set up a final showdown with Andreeva after overcoming Karolina Muchovaher 6-4, 6-7 (7/4), 6-3.
Andreeva and Tauson were to play after press time last night.
Andreeva, who had stunned five-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek in the quarters and former Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova in the round-of-32, is the youngest player to reach a WTA 1000 Final.
In Brazil, Argentine Francisco Comesana on Friday stunned Australian Open finalist and world No. 2 Alexander Zverev with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win in the quarter-finals of the Rio Open, the biggest win of his career so far.
Comesana, ranked 86th in the world, turned heads in his Grand Slam debut match last year when he handed sixth seed Andrey Rublev a first-round exit from Wimbledon.
Friday’s win in Rio de Janeiro is the 24-year-old’s first victory over a top-five ranked opponent.
“I was repeating to myself throughout the match: ‘How good it is to be alive,’” Comesana said in his post-match interview. “So, I was enjoying the entire match.”
Comesana was to play Alexandre Muller in the semi-finals yesterday, with the Frenchman beating Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 7-5, 6-1.
Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin missed out on the semis, losing 6-4, 6-1 to Argentina’s Sebastian Baez, who was to play compatriot Camilo Ugo Carabelli.
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
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