Chan, Dodig edged out in Australian Open mixed doubles

Taipei-Taiwanese tennis star Latisha Chan (???) and her mixed doubles partner Ivan Dodig of Croatia lost in the quarter-finals at the Australian Open on Thursday, leaving Hsieh Su-wei (???) the last Taiwanese player in the competition.

No. 6 seeds Chan and Dodig were ousted by No. 3 seeds Henri Kontinen of Finland and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-5, 7-6(7-2) in a match that lasted one hour and 34 minutes in the Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne.

The nail-biter opened with Chan and Dodig holding their serves until Dabrowski and Kontinen started hitting their returns and nailed key volleys to take the first set 7-5.

The second set was even closer before Chan and Dodig fell behind 5-6 and then rallied to force a tie break. However, with the score at 2-3 they conceded four points in a row to lose 2-7 and send Dabrowski and Kontinen into the semi-finals.

It will be Kontinen's third semi-final at the Australian Open after winning the men's doubles last year and making it into the same final in 2017.

The 30-year-old Chan also entered the women's doubles with her 26-year-old sister Chan Hao-ching (???), but they lost 5-7, 2-6 to Timea Babos of Hungary and Kristina Mladenovic of France in the semi-finals Wednesday.

Meanwhile, veteran 34-year-old Hsieh Su-wei (???) and her women's double partner Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic face Babos and Mladenovic in the women's doubles final on Friday.

The Australian Open is a Grand Slam tournament held from Jan. 20 until Feb. 2 and carries total prize money of AUD$32.505 million (NT$666.78 million).

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel