Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai moves forward in doubles, while Zheng and Yuan out at US Open

Xinhua | Updated: 2022-09-04 15:49

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Zhang Shuai of China and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine high five during their women's doubles first round match. [Photo/Agencies]

NEW YORK -- Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai moved into the women's doubles third round while her younger compatriots Zheng Qinwen and Yuan Yue both stopped in the singles third round at the US Open here on Saturday.

In the women's doubles, defending champion Zhang showed her steady form, teaming up with Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine to reach the third round after they registered a comfortable win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus and Slovakia's Tereza Mihalikova 6-1, 6-2 in 56 minutes.

Zhang, 33, lifted the US Open doubles title with Australia's Samantha Stosur last year.

Zhang Shuai of China hits a return during the women's singles third round match against Rebecca Marino of Canada at the 2022 US Open in New York, Sept 2, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

She also remains as the only Chinese player in the singles as she will face American 12th seed Coco Gauff in the fourth round on Sunday.

Qualifier Yuan finished her US Open journey after losing to local favorite Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-0 in the third round before Zheng was defeated by 108th-ranked Jule Niemeier of Germany 6-4, 7-6(5).

World No. 142 Yuan started the match with a 2-1 lead in the first set but collapsed afterwards to lose five games in a row to eighth-seeded Pegula.

Yuan Yue of China hits a return during the women's singles third round match against Jessica Pegula of the United States at the 2022 US Open tennis championships on Sept 3, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

Having established a 4-1 advantage, Yuan almost saw the second set turned around again, but the 23-year-old held her nerves to drag the match into the deciding set through a tiebreak.

Yuan had to take a medical timeout before the deciding set for treatment on her ankle which took a toll on her performance, as she failed to keep Pegula from rolling in the third set when the American player won six unanswered games to wrap it up.

Despite the defeat, Yuan has already set her best record at a Grand Slam tournament by reaching the US Open third round this time.

Zheng, 19, was unable to level her best Grand Slam record - a last 16 finish at Roland Garros this year, as she was met with strong challenge from the 23-year-old Niemeier.

Zheng Qinwen of China reacts during the women's singles third round match against Jule Niemeier of Germany at the 2022 US Open tennis championships in New York, the United States on Sept 3, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

The first set went with no service broken until the seventh game when Niemeier forced a backhand error from world No. 39 Zheng for a deciding break.

The duo exchanged breaks twice in the second set and Niemeier produced a forehand winner to take the tiebreak on her first match point en route to the victory.

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