Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然) on Sunday finally clinched a Grand Slam title at the fifth time of asking, as the Taiwanese and Martina Hingis took just 65 minutes to see off the challenge of Czech duo Lucie Hradecka and Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 6-2 to win the US Open women’s double final.
“[To win] my first title, it’s amazing — especially [as] I have Martina on my side. I have been to the final several times and it’s the first time really to win a Grand Slam,” Chan told the tournament Web site. “It’s very, very special for me. Today was a great match. We started really strong and really aggressive.”
The second-seeded Taiwanese-Swiss pairing did not face a single break point while converting three of four as their opponents made 18 unforced errors at Flushing Meadows.
Photo: Reuters
Chan lost the women’s doubles final in 2007 on her debut in New York as an 18-year-old alongside Chuang Chia-jung (莊佳容) after also being defeated in the Australian Open women’s doubles final earlier the same year.
She was also a losing finalist at the Australian Open in the mixed doubles in 2011 and the women’s doubles in 2015.
“It’s been a very amazing journey to make it all the way here, and since the first day we agreed to play together, next day I said: ‘Oh, Martina said yes to me.’ That means I’m going to play beside my own idol and we are going to fight together. That’s a huge step for my whole career. To win this title together, it’s really amazing,” Chan said.
For Hingis, it was the second Grand Slam title in two days after claiming the mixed doubles crown with Jamie Murray of Britain on Saturday.
It was the Taiwanese-Swiss duo’s first Grand Slam title as a pairing and their seventh of the season.
“I think we had definitely our chances [before]. [The] semi-finals at the French [Open], we played really well, but they were just better on that given day, Lucie [Safarova] and Bethanie [Mattek-Sands],” Hingis told the tournament Web site. “Coming into this tournament, winning Cincinnati, we showed that we can play on clay and we can play on grass, and I think already making the finals we felt very comfortable with how we played in the previous two, three matches... We were pumped up to go all the way here.”
The victory saw Hingis rise to second in the WTA Tour doubles rankings, with Chan in third place.
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