WUHAN, China, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Top seeds Barbora Strycova and Hsieh Su-Wei were knocked out of the 2019 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open doubles here on Wednesday, going down 6-3, 6-4 to Abigail Spears and Nadiia Kichenok.
Spears/Kichenok now face a quarterfinal tie against China's Duan Yingying and her partner Veronika Kudermetova, who progressed without striking a ball after their opponents Simona Halep and Raluca Olaru withdrew due to an injury suffered by Halep.
There will be two Chinese representatives in the quarterfinal, after Yang Zhaoxuan and her Japanese partner Makoto Ninomiya bested fellow Chinese Xu Yifan and her partner Gabriela Dabrowski 7-6(7), 7-5.
Yang/Ninomiya's reward for progressing is a quarterfinal match against seventh seeds Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke, who defeated Oksana Kalashnikova and Vania King 7-5, 6-1.
Elsewhere in the draw, the Chinese Taipei duo of Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan made short work of Anna Blinkova and Renata Voracova, winning 6-3, 6-2. They now face a quarterfinal tie against fourth seeds Anna-Lena Groenfeld and Demi Schuurs, who beat Sofia Kenin and Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4, 3-6, 12-10.
There was heartache for China's Zhang Shuai, as she and partner Samantha Stosur lost 6-4, 7-6(2) to Caroline Garcia and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who will now take on second seeds Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka, after that duo bested Lyudmyla Kichenok and Desirae Krawczyk 6-1, 6-3.
The doubles quarterfinals for the WTA Wuhan Open begin on Thursday, September 26.
