The Chan sisters yesterday opened their season by cruising into the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Brisbane International, while Karolina Pliskova rallied from a set down to advance to the second round of the women’s singles.
Taiwanese sisters Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan took just 49 minutes to complete a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Japanese duo Miyu Kato and Makoto Ninomiya in their opening match of the season.
The fourth seeds saved one of the two break points they faced and converted five of 10, winning 55 of the 88 points contested to advance to a quarter-final against either Dutch duo Kiki Bertens and Demi Schuurs or Kristina Mladenovic of France and Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan, who are due to face off today.
Photo: Screen grab from Facebook
In the singles, Pliskova said she refused to panic despite falling behind a set and a break to Yulia Putintseva in her opening singles match.
Pliskova, a former world No. 1, appeared headed for an early exit when she stumbled against Putintseva late in the first set, but she recovered from 2-0 down in the second to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at Pat Rafter Arena.
The 26-year-old Czech said despite surrendering the first set, she never felt in any real trouble against Putintseva.
“Even though I was losing a set and a break in the second, I was still pretty positive, because I felt [even though] I’m missing, it’s only small margins here and there,” Pliskova said.
“I just felt like the ball on the racket felt pretty good,” she said.
Pliskova has a good record in Brisbane, winning in 2017 and reaching the semi-finals last year.
“I feel it’s pretty fast, which is important for my game,” Pliskova said. “I can hit some aces, which I did today, and if I play aggressive there is a chance that I am going to make a lot of points, so I feel good on this court for sure.”
Australian wild-card Kimberly Birrell pulled off a massive upset when she stunned world No. 10 Daria Kasatkina in three sets.
Birrell, 20, had only ever won one match on the WTA Tour, but showed great composure to come from 3-5 down in the third set to win 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) in 3 hours, 6 minutes.
“I was just trying to stay positive — I was just telling myself to just keep fighting and keep asking the questions,” Birrell said.
Birrell’s fellow countrywoman Destanee Aiava also moved into the second round with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) upset win over Mladenovic and next plays reigning US Open champion Naomi Osaka.
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