Chan Yung-jan on Friday eased into the third round of the women’s doubles at Wimbledon, while fellow Taiwanese Chuang Chia-jung and Hsieh Su-wei exited on the grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London.
Third seeds Chan and Martina Hingis took just 56 minutes to see off Russian duo Natela Dzalamidze and Veronika Kudermetova 6-1, 6-3 on Court 3.
The Taiwanese-Swiss pairing won the first five games and did not face a single break point, while converting four of seven to set up a third-round clash against either 13th seeds Kirsten Flipkens and Sania Mirza or British duo Naomi Broady and Heather Watson.
Photo: AP
Chuang and Misaki Doi of Japan won the first set and had a match point at 5-4 in the third, but were eventually ousted 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 by eighth-seeded Australians Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua in 2 hours, 31 minutes on Court 12.
The Australians converted four of 16 break points and overcame nine double faults to advance to a third-round clash with Elise Mertens and Demi Schuurs.
Hsieh also exited after a marathon first-round match that lasted 2 hours, 53 minutes and was halted at a set apiece on Thursday evening.
The Taiwanese and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic eventually fell to a 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 12-10 defeat to seventh seeds Julia Goerges and Barbora Strycova on Court 16.
The German-Czech duo fired down nine aces and converted four of 12 break points to set up a second-round clash with Shuko Aoyama and Yang Zhaoxuan.
In men’s singles, Rafael Nadal is on his way to the fourth round and is three matches away from taking over as the No. 1 player in the world.
Nadal on Friday beat Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) on Centre Court.
If he reaches the final, the two-time Wimbledon champion will take over from Andy Murray as the top-ranked player in the world.
Defending champion Andy Murray also had a tough opponent, but he came through a difficult fourth set to beat Fabio Fognini 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.
Fognini led 5-2 in the fourth set and had five set points, but Murray won the final five games to reach the fourth round.
Nadal was playing in front of several sports stars seated in the Royal Box, including David Beckham. Sergio Garcia, the Spanish golfer who was wearing his green Masters jacket, was also there.
Tomorrow, Nadal is to face Gilles Muller in the fourth round. Muller beat Nadal at Wimbledon in 2005, but the Spaniard got one back in 2011.
That was the last time Nadal got past the fourth round at Wimbledon, reaching the final, but losing to Novak Djokovic.
Murray is next to face Benoit Paire. The Frenchman beat Jerzy Janowicz 6-2, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
Ninth-seeded Kei Nishikori was eliminated. The 2014 US Open finalist lost to Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3.
Marin Cilic, the man who beat Nishikori in that US Open final, advanced to the fourth round by beating Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4. The seventh-seeded Croat is next to face Bautista Agut tomorrow.
Kevin Anderson also advanced and is next to face either Sam Querrey or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Their match was suspended because of darkness with Querrey leading 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 6-5.
In women’s singles, Victoria Azarenka extended her Grand Slam comeback into the second week.
The former No. 1 from Belarus, who gave birth to her first child in December last year, advanced to the fourth round by beating Heather Watson 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Centre Court.
Azarenka also lost the first set in her opening match, but that was only her third match since her return. Friday’s match was her fifth.
The two-time Grand Slam champion is to face Simona Halep tomorrow in the fourth round. The second-seeded Romanian beat Peng Shuai 6-4, 7-6 (9/7).
Venus Williams, a five-time Wimbledon champion, beat Naomi Osaka 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 and is next to face 27th-seeded Ana Konjuh.
Fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina, sixth-seeded Johanna Konta, 21st-seeded Caroline Garcia and French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko also reached the fourth round.
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