US Open: Zhang Shuai and Sam Stosur into Cincinnati Masters doubles final
- The 2019 Australian Open champions come back from a set down and trailing 5-1 in the second at Western & Southern Open
- Chinese-Australian pairing win two matches on Friday to face Canada’s Gaby Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani of Brazil in showpiece
The duo were facing defeat to Russia’s Anna Blinkova and Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, who had several chances to serve for the match, before an epic comeback to seal the second set 7-5 by winning six games in a row.
“That’s not the first time we’ve been 1-5 down and won the match,” Zhang told the media after the match. “We just tried to focus on ourselves and be patient.”
Zhang and Stosur then took the decisive third and final set tiebreaker 10-5 to seal a place in the WTA 1000 final and end a hard day’s work.
The semi-final was their second match of the day after playing the quarter-final against fourth seeds Nicole Melichar and Demi Schuurs.
That match also went to three sets with Zhang, 32, and Stosur, 37, winning 6-3, 3-6, (10-6).
They now face the sixth seeds Canada’s Gaby Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani of Brazil in the final on Saturday (7.20am Hong Kong time).
Zhang Shuai crashes out of US Open warm-up in Cincinnati
Zhang and Stosur won the women’s doubles at the 2019 Australian Open but have not won a doubles tournament since either together or with other partners.
The Chinese singles No 2 has reached four doubles semi-finals this season but Cincinnati marks the first final. Zhang has also lost her last three WTA 1000 doubles finals.
Stosur and Zhang reached the semi-finals of the 2018 US Open. This year’s tournament starts on August 30.
