Sisters Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the US Open in New York on Sunday, where they next face a stern test against top seeds Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza.
The Taiwanese ninth seeds rallied from a set down to defeat Romanian pairing Irina-Camelia Begu and Raluca Olaru 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) in a match lasting 2 hours, 39 minutes on Court 17 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The Chan sisters saved five of eight break points and converted four of 14, winning 114 of the 215 points contested in the marathon third-round match at Flushing Meadows in which their opponents’ 48 unforced errors tipped the balance in their favor.
Photo: AFP
“It’s not easy. First of all, we try not to fight with each other,” elder sister Chan Yung-jan joked when asked by the WTA Tour Web site about playing with her younger sister. “But today, it didn’t matter if we won or lost — it was a great match and it’s very memorable. We have so many friends here supporting us.”
The ninth seeds face the Swiss-Indian top seeds in the quarter-finals after Hingis and Mirza ousted 13th seeds Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-0 in just 59 minutes in the third round.
The Chan sisters posted a 1-1 record against the top seeds last month, losing in the Rogers Cup quarter-finals in Toronto, but bouncing back to beat them a week later in the semi-finals on their way to lifting the Western & Southern Open women’s doubles title in Cincinnati.
Photo: Facebook
Chan Yung-jan was due back on Court 17 alongside Rohan Bopanna of India yesterday, where the second seeds were due to face Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Henri Kontinen of Finland in the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles.
In the singles on Sunday, Serena Williams moved three wins away from completing the first Grand Slam since 1988 after a crisp straight-set victory over young American Madison Keys.
The 21-time major champion had been getting off to slow starts recently, but was focused from the beginning against Keys, winning 6-3, 6-3 in just 1 hour, 8 minutes in the fourth round.
Photo: EPA
She faces her sister, Venus, in the quarter-finals.
Venus Williams cruised into her first quarter-final since 2010.
The seven-time major champion routed 152nd-ranked qualifier Anett Kontaveit 6-2, 6-1 in 50 minutes. The 19-year-old Kontaveit had played just two Grand Slam matches before this tournament, losing both, and was making her US Open debut.
Kristina Mladenovic, who had never been past the third round at a major before this week, is into the quarter-finals.
The 40th-ranked Frenchwoman beat Ekaterina Makarova 7-6(7/2), 4-6, 6-1 in a match that did not end until past midnight yesterday Monday morning.
Mladenovic next faces 43rd-ranked Roberta Vinci, who advanced without playing a point when 25th-seeded Eugene Bouchard withdrew from their fourth-round match on Sunday after sustaining a concussion when she slipped and fell in the locker room Friday.
Men’s No. 1 Novak Djokovic is into his 26th straight major quarter-final after a hard-fought victory over Roberto Bautista Agut.
Djokovic dropped a set for the first time this tournament and the 23rd-seeded Spaniard made him work for his 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win.
Djokovic next faces 18th-seeded Feliciano Lopez.
Lopez reached the quarter-finals for the first time, with Fabio Fognini unable to recreate the magic from his upset of Rafael Nadal.
The 18th-seeded Lopez beat Fognini 6-3, 7-6(7/5), 6-1.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has quietly rolled through the tournament, with the 19th-seeded Frenchman yet to drop a set or lose his serve through four rounds. He beat countryman Benoit Paire 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour, 42 minutes to set up a quarterfinal meeting with defending champ Marin Cilic.
Defending champion Marin Cilic overcame a tweaked right ankle, serving 23 aces to return to the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(7/2), 6-1 victory over 27th-seeded Jeremy Chardy of France.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
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