Chan Yung-jan became the last Taiwanese to exit the French Open yesterday, after younger sister Chan Hao-ching also crashed out of the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles in Paris on Wednesday.
Seventh seeds Chan Yung-jan and Max Mirnyi of Belarus rallied from a set down against second seeds Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig, but they were beaten in the super tiebreak, falling to a 6-1, 3-6, 10-6 defeat on Court 2 at Roland Garros.
The Indian-Croatian duo saved one of two break points and converted two of three, winning 54 of the 105 points contested to advance to a semi-final on Court Suzanne Lenglen later yesterday against third-seeded French duo Kristina Mladenovic and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
Photo: EPA
On Wednesday, top seeds Chan Hao-ching and Jamie Murray of Britain fell to a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to sixth seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in their mixed doubles quarter-final.
The Czech-French duo saved four of six break points and converted four of seven, hitting six winners to advance to a semi-final on Court Philippe Chatrier later yesterday against Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Leander Paes of India, who defeated fifth seeds Elena Vesnina of Russia and Bruno Soares of Brazil 6-4, 6-3 in the final quarter-final on Court 1.
In the singles on Wednesday, No. 2 seed Andy Murray overcame a bout of “drop-shotitis” to beat Richard Gasquet in four sets and set up a compelling semi-final clash with defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka.
The Briton started strongly in a 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 6-0, 6-2 win that maintained a perfect 5-0 Grand Slam record against the ninth-seeded Frenchman, breaking when Gasquet double-faulted to lose the second game and consolidating to lead 5-2.
However, the momentum shifted dramatically in the eighth game when the Scot, stepping further into the court as he tried to force the pace, conceded three points in a row with unforced errors.
Gasquet broke back in the next game and as Murray turned increasingly to drop-shots that the Frenchman began to read, he reeled off the next three games to take a set his opponent had been in the most comfortable of box seats to win.
The pattern of the first set began to repeat itself in the second, but Murray won in a tiebreak, claiming six points in a row from 3-1 down in what both he and Gasquet identified as a turning point.
Wawrinka beat Spain’s Albert Ramos Vinolas in straight sets.
In the women’s draw, Australian Sam Stosur battled into her fourth French Open semi-final, beating 102nd-ranked Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).
Stosur faces a semi-final against Spanish fourth seed Garbine Muguruza, who ended the run of another player outside the top 100, 108th-ranked American Shelby Rogers 7-5, 6-3.
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