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Local players face off at doubles semifinals of Taiwan Open

Local players face off at doubles semifinals of Taiwan Open

Local players face off at WTA doubles semifinals

Local players will have a good chance to clinch the doubles trophy at the Taiwan Open as two Taiwanese teams have booked their places in the semifinals on Friday.

The WTA Taiwan Open, taking place in Kaohsiung City from February 6-14, carries a total purse of US$500,000.

Doubles top-seeded Taiwanese sisters Chan Yung-jan and Chan Hao-ching beat Russia’s Marina Melnikova and Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 6-4.

For a ticket to the final, the Chan sisters will face off against unseeded compatriots Hsu Ching-wen and Lee Ya-hsuan, for whom it is the first time to have advanced to the semifinals of a WTA tournament.

The Chan sisters said they look forward to playing them as it will be the first time the two teams face each other in a WTA match.

On the singles side, Taiwan’s remaining player, sixth seeded Hsieh Hsu-wei coasted through her match against Russia’s Elizaveta Kulichkova, 6-0, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals.

First seed Venus Williams also stormed past her quarterfinals opponent, Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, 7-5, 6-2.

Williams said that she couldn’t believe there are so many people in Taiwan who can recognize her, and that she is amazed by how much local fans like her, adding that no matter she is at the hotel or on the court, Taiwanese are all very enthusiastic.