‘I GOT LUCKY’: World No. 1 Naomi Osaka notched her 11th WTA Tour-level victory on grass after recovering from a dropped second set to defeat Greek Maria Sakkari

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 20, 2019
By: Dave Carroll  /  Staff reporter, with AP, BIRMINGHAM, England

Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Tuesday advanced to the quarter-finals of the doubles at the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham, England, while world No. 1 Naomi Osaka needed three sets to get past her first-round opponent in the singles.

Second seeds Hsieh and Barbora Strycova rallied from a set down against Darija Jurak of Croatia and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia to complete a 4-6, 6-1, 10-8 victory in 68 minutes on the grass courts at Edgbaston Priory Club.

The Taiwanese-Czech duo saved four of six break points and converted three of six to set up a quarter-final against Raquel Atawo and Lyudmyla Kichenok after the American-Ukrainian pairing defeated Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania and Heather Watson of Britain 6-4, 6-3, also in 68 minutes.

Hsieh and Strycova were due to put their partnership on hold yesterday when they were set to meet in the second round of the singles.    [FULL  STORY]