Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and Rohan Bopanna of India rallied from a set down to advance to the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles at the Australian Open yesterday, but it was a day that saw Hsieh Su-wei crash out of both the women’s doubles and the mixed doubles at Melbourne Park.
Third seeds Chan and Bopanna had to fight back from a set down against Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic and Lucasz Kubot of Poland to complete a 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 victory in 70 minutes on Show Court 3.
The Taiwanese-Indian duo saved two of four break points and converted two of five, winning 65 of the 123 points contested to advance to a quarter-final against Andreja Klepac of Slovenia and Treat Huey of the Philippines, who edged Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia and Robert Lindstedt of Sweden 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.
Photo: EPA
Next up for Taiwan’s Chan is a women’s doubles quarter-final with her younger sister, Chan Hao-ching, at 8am Taiwan time today.
The second-seeded sisters are due to take on seventh-seeded Czech pairing Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka on Show Court 3, which has become a home-away-from-home for Taiwanese players at Melbourne Park over the past few days.
It was not such a good day for Taiwan’s Hsieh, who crashed out of both the women’s doubles and the mixed doubles.
Hsieh and Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia crashed to a 6-2, 6-4 defeat to 15th-seeded Chinese duo Xu Yi-fan and Zheng Saisai in the third round of the women’s doubles at Hisense Arena yesterday morning.
Hsieh returned on Show Court 3 in the mixed doubles later yesterday alongside Alexander Peya, but she could not make up for her earlier disappointment as the Taiwanese-Austrian duo fell to a 6-2, 6-3 defeat to fifth seeds Elena Vesnina of Russia and Bruno Soares of Brazil in exactly an hour.
Two nights after his father-in-law was rushed to the hospital, four-time finalist Andy Murray put personal distractions aside long enough to beat Bernard Tomic and advance to the men’s singles quarter-finals.
An agitated Murray yelled and berated himself, and had trouble at times before winning 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) in a scrappy game against the last Australian in the draw.
Next for Murray is to be No. 8 David Ferrer, a two-time semi-finalist, who held off No. 10 John Isner 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.
Milos Raonic persevered with his serve-and-volley game plan and withstood a strong comeback from 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka, advancing to the quarter-finals 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3. French Open champion Wawrinka was the only man to beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic in a Grand Slam match last year — the final at Roland Garros — and the last man to beat him at Melbourne Park after 2010.
Raonic lost to Djokovic in the Australian Open quarter-finals last year. This year, he is to face No. 23 Gael Monfils, who reached the last eight in Australia for the first time in 11 trips with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) win over Andrei Kuznetsov.
Before the quarter-finals, Murray said he would try to relax — which might be more difficult than usual considering his wife, Kim, is expecting their first child next month. The two-time major winner said he would be ready to leave the tournament at any moment if needed in Britain.
Kim’s father, Nigel Sears, was working in Australia as a coach for Ana Ivanovic when he fell ill and needed medical treatment in the stands at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night. He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and stayed overnight, but has been released.
Murray and Ivanovic, who lost to Madison Keys, were playing at the same time, Murray on nearby Margaret Court Arena.
Keys was eliminated yesterday, after Zhang Shuai of China defeated her 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Zhang is to play Johanna Konta, who had a 4-6, 6-4, 8-6 win over Ekaterina Makarova, who made it to the semi-finals last year, and became the first British woman since Jo Durie in 1983 to advance to the quarter-finals in Australia.
In earlier matches, two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka advanced with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Barbora Strycova 6-2, 6-4. A growing favorite for the title in a strong comeback from two injury-interrupted seasons, Azarenka next faces No. 7 Angelique Kerber, who beat fellow German Annika Beck 6-4, 6-0.
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