It was heartache once again for Chan Yung-jan (
Russia's Dinara Safina and France's Nathalie Dechy, the seventh seeds who were playing together for the first time, took the US$400,000 top prize with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over the fifth-seeded duo.
Chan and Chuang said at a news conference after the match that although they only played at "60 percent of their strength and ability" in the finals, they are still thrilled with their second-place finish.
"The result wasn't very good but it was important to have the opportunity," Chan said. "We're really, really happy to get in the final again but we are looking forward to having more chances to get into a final in the future.
"We'll try our best to be the best players in Taiwan," she said.
The pair vowed to come back even stronger for next year's US Open tournament.
Chan, from Taipei, jumps to a career-best sixth in the new WTA doubles rankings, one spot ahead of her Kaohsiung-born partner, who will also have a new career high in the doubles ranking.
The Taiwanese duo saved two break points in their first service game, then broke on Chuang's backhand return winner, but Dechy and Safina broke back to 2-2.
They then missed a break chance in the ninth game and paid the price when Safina and Dechy broke to win the set, taking the deciding point when Chan hit a forehand wide.
Dechy and Safina rolled to a 5-0 lead in the second set. Chan and Chuang held and broke back but were broken in five points in the last game, with Chan netting a forehand volley to end matters after 74 minutes.
In Taipei, Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (
He praised Chan and Chuang for their performance in the tournament, which he said had "brought great glory to Taiwan."
Their second place finish marks the best ever for a Taiwanese pair at the US Open.
Chan, 18, and Chuang, 22, have been on a roll since winning silver at last year's Asian Games in Qatar last November. In January, they made it to the finals of the Australian Open women's doubles final, but lost in their Slam debut to Zimbabwe's Cara Black and South Africa's Liezel Huber 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-1.
The Taiwanese duo also won WTA titles this year on the grass at Birmingham, England, Bangalore, Indian and 's-Hertogenbosch in Holland.
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