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.
BACK ON COURT: After arriving on court in a brightly colored outfit with a giant bow, Osaka stunned Ostapenko to record her first top-10 win in four years Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday survived US Open first-round wobbles to stay on course for a semi-final showdown, while two-time champion Naomi Osaka made a tearful and colorful return to Flushing Meadows. World No. 1 Sinner fought back from a set and break down to defeat 140th-ranked Mackenzie McDonald in his first match since being embroiled in a doping test controversy. Italian Sinner battled to a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 win over American opponent McDonald at Arthur Ashe Stadium, racing away with 18 of the last 22 games. The 23-year-old was returning to action just a week after it was revealed
NOT THIS YEAR: Teams from Taiwan have won 17 titles at the tournament, second only to the US with 30. This year was the nation’s first championship game since 2009 Taiwan fell just short in Sunday’s championship game of the Little League World Series (LLWS) in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, losing 2-1 to Florida. Despite the defeat, it was still the best finish for Taiwan at the LLWS since Taoyuan’s Guishan Little League, the country’s representative again this year, lost the 2009 championship game 6-3 to California. Entering Howard J. Lamade Stadium on Sunday on a five-game winning streak in Williamsport, Guishan took an early lead in the opening frame on an RBI single by Hu Yen-chun. However, Guishan failed to extend the margin as its players struggled at the plate, tallying only five
The first step for swimmer Ali Truwit was overcoming her newfound fear of the one place she had always felt safe — the water. Because the sound of water, any sound involving water, instantly triggered flashbacks to the day she swam for her life after being bitten by a shark. She and a friend were snorkeling in the ocean off Turks and Caicos on May 24 last year when a shark charged and bit Truwit’s lower left leg. Bleeding and with the shark circling, Truwit went into competitive swim mode and raced about 69m toward the safety of the boat. She was rushed
Brighton & Hove Albion’s in-form Kaoru Mitoma yesterday returned to the Japan squad as Hajime Moriyasu’s side eye an eighth straight appearance at the FIFA World Cup. Japan face China at home on Thursday next week and Bahrain away five days later to start the decisive third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The 27-year-old winger Mitoma has not featured for Japan since the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar in January, when injury restricted him to two substitute appearances. He was ruled out for the rest of last season after he returned to Brighton, but he has started the new