Peng Shuai, Hsieh Su-Wei power into last 16 at Australian Open
By Wang Meng
["china"]
In the Australian Open, China's Peng Shuai and her partner Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei, wrapped up a 6-4, 6-1 victory in the women's doubles. The pair dispatched of Lesley Kerkhove of the Netherlands and Belarusian Lidziya Marozava to progress.
Hsieh Su-Wei (L) and Peng Shuai (r) in the women’s doubles. /VCG Photo

Hsieh Su-Wei (L) and Peng Shuai (r) in the women’s doubles. /VCG Photo

The eighth seeds dropped their serve three times, but broke back each time and eventually sealed the first set 6-4.
In the second set, the cross-Strait combination worked well, while their opponents were error-prone. Peng and Hsieh claimed the second set 6-1 and powered into the last 16 in the Melbourne tournament.
Hsieh Su-Wei (L) and Peng Shuai (R) won the French Open doubles title in 2014. /VCG Photo

Hsieh Su-Wei (L) and Peng Shuai (R) won the French Open doubles title in 2014. /VCG Photo

Success is no stranger to the pair, as they have won the doubles titles at Wimbledon in 2013 and French Open in 2014. Prior to the opening major of the tennis season, the duo separated as a team. Peng continues to recover from a knee operation, and was bounced in the opening round in women's singles, losing to 15-year-old Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk.
Peng said, "At the beginning of today's match, I was pretty nervous. But Hsieh was encouraging me all the time. I was not that confident but we helped each other relieve any stress."
Meanwhile, China's Xu Yifan and her Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski outdid Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova and Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova 6-4, 6-4, and moved into the last 16 after.