US Open champ Zhang Shuai into Ostrava Open doubles semi with Sania Mirza
- Chinese No 1 and Indian partner Sania Mirza see off Lidziya Marozava and Anna Danilina in quarter-final
- No 2 seeds face fourth-seeded Japanese duo Eri Hozumi and Makoto Ninomiya in semi-final
China’s No 1 tennis player and US Open champion Zhang Shuai kept up her remarkable recent doubles form by reaching the semi-finals of the J&T Banka Ostrava Open with partner Sania Mirza.
The Chinese-Indian duo saw off the threat of Lidziya Marozava of Belarus and Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina in the quarter-final of the WTA 500 tournament in the Czech Republic.
World No 13 doubles player Zhang and 110th-ranked Mirza, who partnered up in Luxembourg last week after Zhang lifted the US Open with Samantha Stosur, won out 6-3, 3-6, 10-6 in the end.
The reward for the second seeds is a match against the fourth-seeded Japanese duo Eri Hozumi and Makoto Ninomiya in semi-final.
All four of the top seeds are into the semis with the other match between first seeds Bernarda Pera of the US and Poland’s Magda Linette facing third seeds Erin Routliffe of New Zealand and Kaitlyn Christian of the US.
Zhang lost in the first round of the singles to world No 49 Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan earlier in the week in Ostrava before winning her doubles match with Mirza.
China No 1 Zhang blows match point to crash out of Ostrava Open singles
They took on Britain’s Tara Moore and Emina Bektas of the US in the women’s doubles, coming back from a set down to win through to the quarters.
The Tianjin native and Mirza joined forces for the Luxembourg Open where they were beaten in the quarter-finals by Belgian pair Greet Minnen and Alison van Uytvanck.
Before winning in New York, Zhang and Stosur won the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.
