TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Chan Hao-ching (詹皓晴) of Taiwan and her Ukrainian partner Lyudmyla Kichenok on Monday (Jan.20) exited the Australian Open (AO) women's doubles in the round of 16 after losing 6-7, 2-6 to China's Zhang Shuai (張帥) and France's Kristina Mladenovic. The duo, seeded fifth, could not overcome the ninth-seeded pair despite a strong start.
Chan, ranked 16th in women's doubles, and Kichenok had advanced smoothly through the first two rounds. During their match against Zhang and Mladenovic, the "Taiwan-Ukrainian alliance" broke the opponents' serve twice in the opening set but ultimately fell 6-7 in the tiebreaker. They failed to regain momentum in the second set, losing both their opening service games and eventually the set 2-6.
Zhang Shuai was once a top tennis singles player, achieved a career-high ranking of 2 in doubles, and won 14 WTA titles, including one AO and one US Open doubles championship. Kristina Mladenovic, on the other hand, has won two AO doubles titles and four French Open doubles titles.
In contrast, Hsieh Su-Wei (謝淑薇) of Taiwan succeeded last Sunday alongside Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, ranked eighth in women's doubles. They defeated the 13th-seeded duo of Hungary's Timea Babos and the United States' Nicole Melichar-Martinez with a score of 6-4, 6-3, advancing to the quarterfinals.
