Chan Yung-jan on Friday put any worries about jet lag behind her following her gold-medal-winning performance at the Taipei Summer Universiade as she teamed up with Martina Hingis to cruise into the second round of the women’s doubles at the US Open, while there were also victories for fellow Taiwanese Chan Hao-ching, Hsieh Su-wei and Lu Yen-hsun at Flushing Meadows in New York.
Second seeds Chan Yung-jan and Hingis took just 55 minutes to see off Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan and Arina Rodionova of Australia 6-2, 6-2 on Grandstand Court at the final Grand Slam of the year to qualify for the WTA Finals next month.
The Taiwanese-Swiss duo conceded just one break point, while converting five of seven to advance to a second-round clash with Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.
Photo: AFP
Chan Yung-jan, who claimed the Universiade doubles title with younger sister Chan Hao-ching in Taipei on Tuesday, thanked her partner after the victory.
“Since the Universiade doesn’t happen every year in my hometown, it would be really special for me to go back to play,” Chan Yung-jan told the WTA Web site.
“I know that I’m taking the risk of my body and the jet lag. Of course, I need to tell Martina how my schedule’s gonna be, so she needs to cover me a little more when I get back — which she did a lot during the match today, so I’m very thankful for her,” she added.
Hingis praised her partner’s efforts.
“She did great, considering all the effort that she had to go: winning Cincinnati, going back to Taiwan, getting the gold medal with her sister, coming back — I mean, I was like: ‘I’m so proud of her,’” Hingis told the WTA Web site.
“We still got to get through the first couple matches and I think after, everything will start to be better,” she added.
The second seeds joined Russian Wimbledon champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in securing berths for the season-ending championships in Singapore after the top seeds defeated US duo Jennifer Brady and Alison Riske 6-2, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Chan Hao-ching and Zhang Shuai took just 53 minutes to oust US duo Lauren Davis and Megan Moulton-Levy 6-1, 6-2 on Court 4.
The Taiwanese-Chinese pairing saved all three break points they faced and converted four of seven to set up a second-round clash with another pair of Americans — Kayla Day and Caroline Dolahide.
On Court 11, Hsieh and Monica Niculescu defeated Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium and Aleksandra Kunic of Serbia 6-2, 6-4 in 76 minutes.
The Taiwanese-Romanian duo saved one of three break points and converted five of six to set up a second-round match against Japanese pairing Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato.
In the first round of the men’s doubles, Lu and Chung Hye-on were leading 6-3, 1-1 on Court 5 when their Argentine opponents Guido Pella and Diego Schwartzman retired.
The Taiwanese-South Korean duo next face 12th seeds Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands and Horia Tecau of Romania in the second round.
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