Chan, Dodig edged out in Australian Open mixed doubles

Taipei, Jan. 30 (CNA) Taiwanese tennis star Latisha Chan (詹詠然) and her mixed doubles partner Ivan Dodig of Croatia lost in the quarter-finals at the Australian Open on Thursday, leaving Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) 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 (詹皓晴), 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 (謝淑薇) 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).