The Chan sisters advanced to the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, on Thursday, while two-time Grand Slam champions Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai lost their first match since losing the WTA Finals doubles final in Singapore in October 2014.
Second seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan defeated German wild-cards Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-3 in 74 minutes at Stadium 2 at the India Wells Tennis Garden.
The Taiwanese sisters saved four of eight break points and converted six of 13, winning 60 of the 111 points contested to pick up the scalp of world No. 2 singles player Kerber.
Photo: AFP
In the second round, the Chan sisters — who were named on Wednesday last week online sports newspaper Vavel USA’s team of the month for last month — face either American duo Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Coco Vandeweghe, or Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain, who were due to play their first-round match yesterday.
Former doubles world No. 1s Hsieh and Peng failed to revive past glories in their first-round match, falling 6-0, 6-2 to Sara Errani of Italy and Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia in just 51 minutes.
Hsieh has been mainly concentrating on the singles this season, while Peng is just happy to be back playing after missing all of last year following a career-threatening back injury.
“I thought about giving up many times,” Peng told the WTA Web site after playing in the doubles in Shenzhen in January. “Before the surgery I went to see doctors in [the] US and Germany; both of them said even [if] I took the surgery, they can’t guarantee that I can be 100 percent fit again.”
In the singles, Eugenie Bouchard beat Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Bouchard, who is trying to recapture the form that carried her to No. 5 in the world late in 2014, battled with her own inconsistency throughout the match, but won on her first match point when Ozaki hit a backhand just long.
Bouchard, No. 42 this week, faces 21st-seeded Sloane Stephens of the US in the second round.
American Ryan Harrison beat Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) in their first-round match.
Earlier, teenagers Frances Tiafoe and Brona Coric grabbed the center-court spotlight.
Tiafoe outlasted Taylor Fritz 3-6, 6-2, 3-6 in a battle of 18-year-old Americans, while Coric, a 19-year-old Croatian, beat Lucas Pouille of France 6-2, 7-5.
On the first day of the men’s draw, Nicolas Mahut of France, Leonardo Mayer of Argentina and Robin Haase of the Netherlands advanced. Mahut beat qualifier Renzo Olivo of Argentina 6-2, 6-4; Mayer ousted Sam Groth of Australia 6-4, 6-3; and Haase toppled Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-3, 6-4.
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