Taiwanese tennis player Latisha Chan and her Australian doubles partner Samantha Stosur on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals at the Rothesay Classic Birmingham in England with a win over a pair that included Chan’s sister.
Chan and Stosur, both formerly ranked world No. 1, scored a 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 victory against the fourth-seeded duo Chan Hao-ching and Japan’s Shuko Aoyama in a quarter-final that lasted 92 minutes.
Latisha Chan and Stosur warmed up quickly to take a 3-1 lead in the opening set.
Even though Chan Hao-ching and Aoyama made it 4-4, Latisha Chan and Stosur saved four of seven break points to pocket the set.
Latisha Chan and Stosur also took a 3-1 lead in the second set, but Chan Hao-ching and Aoyama answered with five consecutive points to turn the tables 6-3, forcing the tiebreaker.
Rallying in the tiebreaker, Latisha Chan and Stosur quickly gained a 7-2 lead and never looked back, pulling off a comfortable win to advance.
They face the winner of the match between Romanian pair Monica Niculescu and Elena-Gabriela Ruse and China’s Zhang Shuai and Elise Mertens of Belgium, which was to begin after press time last night.
The Rothesay Classic Birmingham, a WTA 250 tournament played on grass, has a total purse of US$251,750. The tournament is to conclude on Sunday.
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