Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic yesterday came through a stern test at Melbourne Park to advance to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while defending champion Novak Djokovic cruised into the quarter-finals of the men’s singles.
Top seeds Hsieh and Strycova battled to a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Daria Jurak and Nina Stojanovic in 1 hour, 22 minutes at Margaret Court Arena to keep their bid for a second Grand Slam title on track.
The Wimbledon champions broke earlier to take a 2-1 lead in the first set, but the Croatian-Serbian duo broke Strycova’s serve to level at 3-3, with the top seeds having to dig deep to break back and serve out the set.
Photo: Reuters
The two sides traded breaks again in the second set, before the top seeds gained the edge, with Hsieh serving for the match at 5-4.
However, the unseeded duo kept the Taiwanese under pressure in the final game, creating two break points and saving three before the top seeds eventually converted their fourth.
Hsieh and Strycova won 57 percent of points on their second serve and hit 25 winners to set up a quarter-final against either Lara Arruabarrena of Spain and Ons Jabeur of Tunisia or American duo Jennifer Brady and Caroline Dolehide.
Photo: screen grab from Facebook
In the singles, Djokovic swept into the quarter-finals, but 15-year-old Coco Gauff exited in tears after her quest to become the Open era’s youngest Grand Slam winner came screeching to a halt.
As Melbourne marked Australia Day with formation jets and a 21-gun salute, world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty had the home fans celebrating as she beat Alison Riske of the US 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.
“I just had to hang in there, and try and give myself a chance,” said Barty, who recovered from losing the second set and stayed on course to become the first Australian champion since 1978.
Djokovic, hunting his eighth Melbourne title, was remorseless against Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman, crushing the 14th seed 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to book an 11th appearance in the last eight.
The Serbian’s reward was a matchup with big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, who is back in form after a run of injuries and dismissed 2018 finalist Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-3, 7-5.
“I’ve got to be ready for missiles coming from his side of the net,” said Djokovic, the 16-time Grand Slam winner.
Gauff’s giant-killing Australian debut generated intense hype as she attempted to become the youngest Grand Slam winner in the Open era by breaking the record set by a 16-year-old Martina Hingis in 1997.
Gauff beat Venus Williams in the first round and reigning champion Naomi Osaka in the third, but she came unstuck against a determined Sofia Kenin.
Gauff raised hopes by edging the first set, but then her fellow American took control and it was one-sided at the finish as Kenin won 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-0.
“The thing I’m most proud of myself is how I handled it on the court,” said Gauff, who shed tears after her defeat. “Even though today I lost a set 6-0, I was still believing I could win it.”
Kenin next faces Jabeur, who beat China’s Wang Qiang to become the first Arab woman to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final.
Wang stunned Serena Williams in the third round, but the 27th seed ran out of steam against Jabeur, who fought back from a break down in the first set to win 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.
Jabeur, the highest-ranked Arab woman in history — she reached a career-high 51 last year — is the first Tunisian woman to win a main-draw match at the Australian Open.
“I’m really shaking right now, it’s unbelievable, I can’t describe how I feel,” the 25-year-old said.
In the late match, Swiss third seed Roger Federer defeated Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 as he booked a record 15th appearance in the quarter-finals.
He faces unseeded American Tennys Sandgren, who upset Italian 12th seed Fabio Fognini 7-6 (7/5), 7-5, 6-7 (2/7), 6-4.
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