Taiwanese players yesterday completed a clean sweep in the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, with Latisha Chan, Chan Hao-ching and Hsieh Su-wei safely advancing to the third round, as the temperature in Melbourne climbed to a stifling 43°C.
Top seeds Latisha Chan and Andrea Sestini Hlavackova took just 70 minutes to see off the challenge of Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia and Varvara Lepchenko of the US 6-0, 7-5 on Show Court 3.
The Taiwanese-Czech duo saved three of four break points and converted five of 11, winning 65 of the 107 points contested.
Photo: EPA
The top seeds hit 17 winners as they set up a third-round clash with Latisha Chan’s younger sister, Chan Hao-ching, and Katarina Srebotnik.
The 14th seeds had a tougher time, rallying from a set down to overcome Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands and Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) in two hours, 24 minutes on Court 13.
The Taiwanese-Slovenian duo saved three of five break points and converted just two of 16, winning 118 of the 226 points contested.
Eighth seeds Hsieh and Peng Shuai cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Lesley Kerkhove of the Netherlands and Lidziya Marozava of Belarus in just 65 minutes on Court 20. The Taiwanese-Chinese duo saved three of six break points and converted six of 14, winning 64 of the 109 points contested.
The former Wimbledon and French Open champions hit 19 winners on their way to a third-round showdown with 12th seeds Raquel Atawo of the US and Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany, who cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Japanese pairing Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato in 53 minutes on Court 13.
In the women’s singles, teenage sensation Marta Kostyuk was in tears yesterday after her tournament adventure ended, but she was determined to make the best of it.
Fourth seed Elina Svitolina breezed past her Ukraine compatriot 6-2, 6-2 in just 59 minutes, leaving the 15-year-old sobbing on her mum’s shoulder, but she was not down for long.
“How much you have to pay Svitolina to have one-hour lesson? I got it for free,” she said.
“I learn that you can play against everyone,” Kostyuk added of facing the world No. 4. “I had the chances, but because I thought, like, she is incredible, she’s a god, I cannot do anything against her, that’s the problem.”
Kostyuk had been labeled the “future of tennis” by some observers after becoming the youngest Australian Open second-round winner since “Swiss Miss” Martina Hingis in 1996.
However, she produced a nervous, error-strewn third-round display against Svitolina and that, she said, was why she was inconsolable as she returned to the locker room.
“Well, because I know that I could play much better. It was, like, honestly I played really, really bad today. Credit to her, of course. I’m not saying she’s bad player. I’m just saying I played bad. I didn’t show even maybe even 10 percent of what I can [do],” she added.
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