Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Polish partner Jan Zielinski on Saturday survived a tough 90-minute round-of-16 match to advance to the mixed doubles quarter-finals of the US Open and stay in contention for a third Grand Slam title, while Jannik Sinner stormed into the last 16 as fellow world No. 1 Iga Swiatek stayed on course for a second New York triumph.
Seventh seeds and Australian Open winners Hsieh and Zielinksi took 1 hour, 29 minutes to beat Mexico’s Giuliana Olmos and Santiago Gonzalez 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 10-6.
Hsieh, 38, and Zielinski, 27, are eyeing their third Grand Slam title this year, after winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon, with a semi-final finish at the French Open.
Photo: AP
Hsieh and Zielinski are next to play the winners of the upcoming match between Americans Maria Mateas and Mackenzie McDonald and Italians Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori.
Chan Hao-ching, Taiwan’s other remaining player in the tournament, and Russian partner Veronika Kudermetova defeated American sisters Carmen and Ivana Corley 7-6 (7-7), 6-7 (4-7), 6-4 to advance to the round of 16, where they are to play Harriet Dart of the UK and Diane Parry of France.
Australian Open champion Sinner raced past 87th-ranked Christopher O’Connell 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.
The 23-year-old Italian’s win came a day after four-time champion Novak Djokovic was sent spinning to his earliest loss in New York in 18 years by Alexei Popyrin. One day earlier, 2022 winner Carlos Alcaraz was defeated in the second round by Dutch journeyman Botic van de Zandschulp.
“I knew I had to play very solid. My serve worked well so I am happy with my performance,” Sinner said after firing 15 aces in his 46 winners past outclassed O’Connell of Australia.
Sinner is to take on 14th seed Tommy Paul for a quarter-final place after the American defeated Canadian qualifier Gabriel Diallo in four sets.
Four-time French Open champion Swiatek was equally dominant as Sinner as the top-seeded Pole eased into the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The 23-year-old next faces another Russian, Liudmila Samsonova, for a quarter-final place.
“I like the night sessions, but it’s noisy so I need to focus on my job and stay inside my bubble,” said Swiatek, who shot a long hard stare at her opponent when a ball was speared towards her early in the second set.
Daniil Medvedev remains the only former champion left in the men’s tournament, after sweeping past Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
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