Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and Zheng Jie of China ousted former world No. 1 Martina Hingis and Flava Pennetta to advance to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open yesterday.
The 14th-seeded cross-strait duo upset the fourth-seeded Swiss-Italian pairing 6-3, 6-3 in 1 hour, 21 minutes at Melbourne Park’s Hisense Arena.
Chan and Zheng saved three of four break-point chances and converted four of eight in their third-round match to set up a quarter-final with Poland’s Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Andreja Klepac of Slovenia, after they upset ninth-seeded Czech duo Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (6/8), 6-2.
Photo: EPA
Also crashing out in the third round were hot favorites and top seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, the Italian pairing falling to a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 loss to 16th-seeded German duo Julia Goerges and Anna-Lena Groenefeld.
In the mixed doubles, Hsieh Su-wei and Pablo Cuevas edged the Taiwanese second-round showdown against Chang Kai-chen and Zhang Ze.
The Taiwanese-Uruguayan pairing rallied from a set down to edge the match 3-6, 6-3, 10-6 against the cross-strait duo in 59 minutes on Show Court 2.
Photo: AFP
Both pairings converted one of their three break-point chances in a match in which Hsieh and Cuevas hit fewer winners and committed more unforced errors than their opponents, but still advanced to the quarter-finals.
Hsieh and Cuevas next face either second seeds Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil or unseeded Australian duo Daria Gavrilova and Luke Saville of Australia.
Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Jamie Murray of Britain play their second-round mixed doubles match against fourth seeds Hlavackova and Alexander Peya of Austria on Show Court 2 today.
In the singles, the Williams sisters are back in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam and neither one is there just to watch.
Venus Williams continued her impressive career resurgence with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 win over sixth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, reaching the last eight at a major for the first time since the 2010 US Open.
Younger sister, Serena, was supporting her and cheering for her from the stands at Rod Laver Arena, just hours after she had to dig deep for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 comeback win over Garbine Muguruza on the same court.
The sisters have not both advanced this far at a major since Serena won Wimbledon in 2010, their careers seemingly veering off at opposite trajectories.
Serena has won five Grand Slam titles in the interim, lifting her tally to 18, while seven-time major winner Venus has labored for years since being diagnosed in 2011 with Sjogren’s syndrome, which causes fatigue and inflammation.
She had only been beyond the third round once at a Grand Slam event since the start of 2011 and many thought she would never return to the last eight. Even so, she is not getting too excited four wins into a tournament.
“I guess from the outside looking in, I guess it could look like that, but for me I’m just really focused and poised right now,” the seven-time major winner said. “I feel like I’ve been here before, so it’s not like I’m jumping up and down for joy: ‘Oh, shoot, what is this? I’ve never done this.’”
The 34-year-old Venus next face Madison Keys, a 19-year-old American who was inspired to play tennis by watching the Williams sisters.
Serena was motivated by a Grand Slam loss that stung her more than any last year in her match against 24th seed Muguruza, who had conceded only four games to her in a second-round upset at the French Open last year.
“She made me play a lot better,” Serena said. “I had to play the best match of the tournament or else I was going to be out.”
The five-time Australian Open winner next faces Dominika Cibulkova, who reproduced the kind of tennis that took her to the final last year as she beat two-time champion Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Keys advanced to her first Grand Slam quarter-final with a 6-2, 6-4 win over good friend and fellow American Madison Brengle.
“It’s a huge opportunity for me. I’m going to make the most of it,” Keys said. “I want to be at the end of the tournament holding the trophy up. That’s my goal in the long run.”
Serena had difficulty breathing at times yesterday and coughed throughout the match, later saying she had been sick for a couple of days.
There were times when she defended, times when she attacked and times when she got lucky — like when Muguruza made a mess of an easy volley on break point — but when she needed to assert some authority, she found something special — like her ace, ace, ace, service winner sequence to close the second set, then her crucial hold at the start of the third when she saved six break points in an almost 13 minute game.
“When I got down, I was thinking: ‘What can I do now?’” Serena said. “Whatever happens, I thought, I’ve won this five times.”
Serena will need every bit of confidence against Cibulkova, who pounded 44 winners and broke former world No. 1 Azarenka’s serve seven times.
In the men’s singles, top seed Novak Djokovic had a 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 win over Gilles Muller to reach the quarter-finals at a 23rd consecutive major. Next up, he faces eighth seed Milos Raonic, who moved into the last eight in Australia for the first time with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (7/9), 6-3 win over 12th seed Feliciano Lopez.
Defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (10/8) and next takes on US Open finalist Kei Nishikori.
Spurred on by hundreds of flag-waving Japanese supporters at Rod Laver Arena, fifth seed Nishikori had little trouble in a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win over ninth seed David Ferrer.
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