Hsieh Su-wei and Sania Mirza cruised into the quarter-finals of the doubles at the Qatar Total Open on Tuesday, while Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching also advanced.
Top seeds Hsieh and Mirza took just 50 minutes to dispatch Spanish duo Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2, 6-2 on the hard courts in Doha.
The Taiwanese-Indian duo, ranked No. 6 and No. 5 in the world respectively, saved all three break-point chances they faced, while converting four of eight to set up a quarter-final against either German pairing Julia Goerges and Anna-Lena Groenefeld or Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, who were due to play yesterday.
Hsieh and Mirza will be hoping that their new partnership finally begins to gel in Doha after they were knocked out in the round-of-16 in Dubai, in the round-of-32 at the Australian Open and in the semi-finals last time out in Brisbane.
Also advancing was Chan and her partner Casey Dellacqua of Australia, who knocked out third seeds Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Flavia Pennetta of Italy 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
Chan and Dellacqua saved two of four break-point opportunities and converted three of six to complete the victory in 1 hour, 25 minutes.
The Taiwanese-Australian duo face Gabriela Dabrowski and Marina Erakovic in the quarter-finals after the Canadian-New Zealand pairing defeated Ukrainian duo Yuliya Beygelzimer and Olga Savchuk 4-6, 6-2, 10-8.
In the singles, sixth seed Andrea Petkovic advanced to the second round with a 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-2 win over Belgian qualifier Kirsten Flipkens.
Flipkens, who beat Petkovic in the second round in New Haven in August last year, showed a good touch in the first set — only to crumble in the second as Petkovic opened up a 4-0 lead.
World No. 10 Petkovic was in total control of the third set, with the German winning four games in a row to seal the contest.
“Kirsten isn’t a great matchup for me. I always struggle against her,” Petkovic said. “She played really well, especially in the first set. I was able to step up my game in second and third sets.”
Carla Suarez Navarro advanced after fellow Spaniard Garbine Muguruza retired due to a viral illness with Suarez Navarro leading 6-5 after the first set.
Jelena Jankovic thrashed Chinese lucky loser Zheng Saisai 6-0, 6-2, while Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic beat Swiss qualifier Stefanie Voegele 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
Seventh seed Venus Williams advanced to the quarter-finals after a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5) win over Zahlavova Strycova in the only second-round match played.
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