Taiwanese sisters Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching yesterday defeated Darija Jurak and Nina Stojanovic 6-3, 7-5 at the WTA Gippsland Trophy at Melbourne Park, sending them to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles.
The Chans closed out the round-of-16 match against the Croatian-Serbian duo in 1 hour, 12 minutes after falling behind 1-3 in the second set.
They won 66 of the 116 points contested to set up a match against Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo, who ousted the Australian duo of Anastasia Rodionova and Storm Sanders 7-5, 2-6, 10-8.
Photo: AFP
Melbourne Park had 89 matches on the schedule yesterday, featuring Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Stanislas Wawrinka and eight other Grand Slam singles champions, amid a six-tournament setup, including the Gippsland Trophy, meant to help players prepare in short order amid the COVID-19 pandemic for the Australian Open at the same venue next week.
In the women’s singles at the Gippsland Trophy and the Yarra Valley Classic, world No. 3 Osaka and top-ranked Ashleigh Barty were pushed to the brink, but survived early exits, while Simona Halep cruised to victory.
At the Gippsland Trophy, Japan’s Osaka was made to work hard against in-form Katie Boulter, but fought back for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory to reach the quarter-finals.
“Today was really tough for me. It just felt like a new experience playing here again after such a long while,” Osaka said.
“For me, I thought she played really well. I sort of had to raise my level, kind of go within myself,” she said.
“I was actually more calm after losing the first set because I felt like for me, I just wanted to be able to play well,” she said.
World No. 5 Elina Svitolina beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-2 and faces Belgium’s Elise Mertens, who knocked out Caroline Garcia of France 7-6 (7/1), 6-3.
World No. 2 Halep downed Laura Siegemund 6-2, 6-4 to set up a quarter-final against Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova, who upset Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-2.
At the Yarra Valley Classic, World No. 1 Barty also had a fright in her match against Bouzkova, but recovered from a second-set stutter to win 6-0, 4-6, 6-3.
“Mid-match I lacked execution ... but happy to get it on my terms in the end,” Barty said.
Twenty-three-time Grand Slam champion Williams beat Tsvetana Pironkova 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals. She remained on track for a semi-final against Barty.
Reigning Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin was pushed hard by American Jessica Pegula.
Kenin dropped the first set and found herself at a 4-1 disadvantage in the second before prevailing 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.
At the Murray River Open, Wawrinka warmed up for the season’s first Grand Slam with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin to reach the last 16 in the men’s singles.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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