Chinese tennis stars are making waves at the Dubai Tennis Championships as two pairs have stormed into the women’s doubles semifinals. Zhang Shuai, partnering with France’s Kristina Mladenovic, and the all-Chinese duo of Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan secured their spots after thrilling victories on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates.
Zhang and Mladenovic faced off against Fanny Stollar of Hungary and Alexandra Panova of Russia in a highly anticipated rematch. After a previous defeat by the same pair last week in Doha, Zhang and her partner were eager for redemption. They surged ahead with a commanding 5-1 lead in the first set, eventually taking it 6-2. Continuing their dominant form, they broke their opponents’ serve twice more in the second set, sealing a 6-4 victory. The duo now looks ahead to a semifinal clash against Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and the USA’s Taylor Townsend.
Meanwhile, Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan faced a nail-biting encounter against Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan and Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic. The Chinese pair took the first set 6-4 but stumbled in the second, dropping it 3-6. The decisive third set was a fierce battle, culminating in a super tiebreak. Demonstrating remarkable resilience, Xu and Yang edged out their opponents 10-8 to clinch the match. They are set to face Jeļena Ostapenko of Latvia and Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei in the semifinals.
The success of these Chinese players highlights the growing prominence of China’s presence in international tennis. Fans eagerly await the upcoming matches as the duos strive to bring glory to their country on the global stage.
