Four pairs that included Chinese players went through the men’s and women’s doubles first-round competitions at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia, on Thursday.
Yuan Yue of China paired with Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia to defeat Katarzyna Kawa of Poland and Kimberley Zimmermann of Belgium 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the women’s doubles second round. The consistency of Yuan and Alexandrova in serving enabled the two to build solid leads early in both sets before securing a quick win.
The Chinese pair of Wang Xinyu and Zheng Saisai faced their compatriot Wang Xiyu and her Kazakhstani partner Yulia Putintseva. Wang Xinyu and Zheng clinched the first set 6-2, but their opponents soon replied 6-3 in the second to tie the match 1-1. Wang Xinyu and Zheng scored a significant break in the eighth game when they trailed 5-2 in the decider and came back to win 7-5.
Guo Hanyu of China also went through the first round after joining hands with Alexandra Panova of Russia to knock out home pair Taylah Preston and Lizette Cabrera 6-4, 7-6. Guo and Panova have extended their winning streak to five matches and Guo made the women’s doubles second round for the second consecutive year.
In the men/s event, China’s Zhang Zhizhen paired with Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic to defeat Guido Andreozzi of Argentina and Theo Arribage of France 7-5, 6-4, advancing to the round of 32.