Chinese players dominated first round matches on Monday at the hard court WTA Jiangxi Open in the city of Nanchang, southeastern China. Second seed singles player Peng Shuai of China won her first set against Japan’s Kurumi Nara 7-5 before losing the second 4-6 then clinching the victory with a 6-3 win. Nara had battled … Read more
Peng Shuai said the dearth of male Chinese tennis players was down to the strength of ping pong and badminton, as the country awaits a breakthrough in men’s tennis. Peng said Chinese tennis had made huge strides in the last 10 years, first with Li Ting and Sun Tiantian winning women’s doubles gold at the … Read more
It is two years and a day since Rafael Nadal last played a grass-court tennis match, but the two-time former Wimbledon champion showed few signs of rust against John Millman. Nadal slapped 33 winners past the Australian on No.1 Court as he dropped just six games to wrap up victory in 105 minutes. Now for … Read more
China’s table tennis stars usually demolish their rivals but they may be fighting a losing battle after mounting a rare challenge against more formidable opposition — their own sports system. In a rare show of dissent, Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin — the world’s top three men’s players — downed paddles at last … Read more
Germany’s Angelique Kerber heads into this week’s Miami Open in the unusual position of having regained the world number one ranking despite a disappointing start to the season. But the 29-year-old says her newly gained status will not add any extra pressure as she seeks to secure her first tournament win of 2017. “I am … Read more
Russian Elena Vesnina’s sparkling Indian Wells campaign continued Friday as she powered into the final with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over rising French star Kristina Mladenovic. Vesnina, a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year who has reached a career high of 15th in the world at the age of 30, had toppled Germany’s soon-to-be world number one … Read more
Karolina Pliskova beat Caroline Wozniacki for the first time in her career to claim the Qatar Open title on Saturday. The powerful Czech won in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 for her eighth WTA title and her second of the year, after her victory at the Brisbane International last month. It was the first Qatar title … Read more