Zhang & Alexandrova advance to last 32, Wang & Zheng eliminated

China's Zhang Shuai partnered with Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round of women's doubles at Wimbledon to defeat Ukrainian pair Nadiia Kichenok and Yuliia Starodubtseva 7-5, 6-2 and advance to the last 32.

36-year-old veteran Zhang had teamed up with Alexandrova many times throughout their careers. The duo converted five break points to sweep past their opponents from Ukraine and book a spot in the second round.

Zhang hopes she and Alexandrova continue to acquit themselves well in their future women's doubles matches.

"She is an excellent singles player, so she has good skills in various aspects to withstand tests. We worked together really well, and I hope we can have good performances continuously," said Zhang.

Jiang Xinyu of China joined forces with Wu Fang-Hsien of Chinese Taipei to beat Zhu Lin of China and Tang Qianhui of China in straight sets. Jiang and Wu are the 12th seeds at the tournament, while Zhu and Tang were playing together for the first time.

The Cross-Strait combination of Jiang and Wu played dominantly, performing well on serves and crucial points to prevail 6-4, 6-4 and advance to the round of 32.

In another women's doubles contest, China's Wang Xinyu and Zheng Saiasai lost to second-seeded duo Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand 6-1, 6-4 in the opening round.