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Hibino sweeps singles, doubles titles at Prague Open
Japan’s Nao Hibino clinched victory in the singles competition at the Livesport Prague Open in the Czech Republic by defeating local favorite Linda Noskova with a score of 6-4, 6-1.
This achievement came after Hibino had already secured the doubles title. The 28-year-old player managed to secure the singles title by prevailing in a semifinal match that had been delayed due to rain, winning against Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian with a final score of 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3.
In the final match against Noskova, Hibino capitalized on five out of seven break points, overcoming an initial 3-0 lead by Noskova in the first set and securing victory in just 71 minutes.
This win marked Hibino’s third WTA title, adding to her earlier successes in Hiroshima in 2019 and Tashkent in 2015. Notably, Hibino became only the fifth “lucky loser” in WTA history to claim a tournament victory.
Omnium Banque Nationale
Venus Williams put up a valiant effort, but No. 13 seed Madison Keys still cruised to a 6-2, 7-5 win in an all-American, first-round match in Montreal.
After taking the opening set rather easily, Keys needed nine match points to put Williams away. Keys finished with five aces to Williams’ two and also saved three of four break points.
The Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova also pulled off an impressive victory, edging Lin Zhu of China 6-3, 6-7 (8), 6-2. Pliskova, who was the runner-up in Montreal in 2021, racked up 11 aces in the two-hour, 22-minute match. She will face Polish No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek in the next round.
“You have to find that balance between playing risky, aggressive, but not too risky, not too much, because then (Swiatek’s) not going to give you many points,” Pliskova said. “Of course, that’s going to be the most difficult part, to find what is too much and what is not enough.”
Other winners Monday included Great Britain’s Katie Boulter, 12th-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, Romanian Sorana Cirstea, No. 16 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, Italy’s Jamine Paolini, Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Americans Sloane Stephens and Jennifer Brady.
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