The Chan sisters on Sunday set up a quarter-final showdown in the women’s doubles at the US Open, while fellow Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei also kept her campaign alive at the final Grand Slam of the year in New York.
Second seeds Chan Yung-jan and Martina Hingis edged 13th seeds Kristina Mladenovic of France and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-4, 7-5 in 1 hour, 26 minutes on Court 5, their longest match so far at Flushing Meadows.
The Taiwanese-Swiss duo hit 34 winners while saving two of four break points and converting four of six to advance to a quarter-final against Chan Hao-ching and Zhang Shuai, who took 1 hour, 54 minutes to see off Daria Gavrilova of Australia and Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 on Court 7.
Photo: Robert Deutsch-USA Today
The Taiwanese-Chinese pairing saved seven of 11 break points and won five of 21 as their opponents fired down six double faults to set up a showdown of the Taiwanese siblings at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Earlier on Court 7 in the second round, 12th seeds Hsieh and Monica Niculescu took 1 hour, 15 minutes to see off the challenge of Japanese duo Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato 6-4, 6-2 and set up a third-round clash with fifth seeds Timea Babos of Hungary and Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic.
In the second round of the mixed doubles, third seeds Chan Hao-ching and Michael Venus of New Zealand edged Alicja Rosolska of Poland and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico 6-3, 6-7 (8/10), 10-6 to set up a quarter-final against seventh seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Rohan Bopanna of India, while elder sister Chan Yung-jan and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia fell to a 6-4, 6-3 defeat to Coco Vandeweghe of the US and Horia Tecau of Romania in exactly an hour.
In the singles, Maria Sharapova described her return to center stage after a 15-month doping ban as “a great ride,” despite her campaign ending in the fourth round.
The former world No. 1 and five-time Grand Slam winner fell 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 to Latvian 16th seed Anastasija Sevastova.
It was her first appearance at a Slam since last year’s Australian Open, where she failed a drugs test and was kicked out of the sport until April this year.
“It’s been a really great ride in the last week,” the 30-year-old Russian said. “Ultimately, I can take a lot from this week. It’s great to get that major out of the way. It was an incredible opportunity. I’m very thankful for it. I did my best. I can be proud of that.”
Sharapova, the world No. 146, had needed a wild card into the final Grand Slam of the year, where she was champion in 2006.
The US Tennis Association’s decision was not met with universal approval.
Former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki claimed it was “unacceptable” for a player with a doping suspension to be given prime-time spots on the prestigious Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Sharapova played all of her four matches in the 24,000-capacity arena.
The Russian insisted that she had nothing to prove to her critics.
“I feel like I’m really beyond that,” she said. “I think there’s only a way to show it on the court, because that’s what really matters to me. I have so many things in my life, but there’s a desire to keep going for more and to keep living through these moments out on these courts.”
Sevastova, who was also a quarter-finalist in New York last year, said she was happy to see Sharapova playing again and that she felt no desire to prove a point on behalf of her peers.
“I think some players have that. I don’t have that. I have great respect for her,” the 26-year-old said.
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has found itself divided ahead of their two Nations League clashes with Israel, with the players disagreeing over whether to boycott the first game today and goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu withdrawing from the squad. After hours of fraught meetings among the players and occasionally involving coaches and officials, FAI chief executive officer David Courell said at a news conference that had been delayed by several hours that a “significant majority” of the squad had agreed to play the game in Hungary, but it was far from a unanimous decision. The handful of Irish journalists present questioned Courell
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