Photo: VCG

China's Zhang Shuai and France's Kristina Mladenovic will take on top-seeded duo Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend in the quarterfinals of the women's doubles at the Australian Open after edging past 5th seeds, Lyudmyla Kichenok and Chan Hao-ching, 7-6, 6-2 on Monday. 

This marks Zhang's 10th career appearance in a Grand Slam women's doubles quarterfinal.

Although Zhang, 35, is at the end of her tether in the singles event, her experience and fighting spirit have made her a serious contender in the doubles event, Liu Yu, a Beijing-based sports commentator, told the Global Times on Monday.

Her extensive experience has allowed her to adapt to the different styles and dynamics of doubles play. Zhang is often able to quickly build chemistry with her doubles partners, whether in mixed doubles or women's doubles. Her ability to coordinate and communicate well on court has been the key to her success, Liu noted. 

Despite falling behind 0-4 in the first set, Zhang said she was inspired by China's table tennis player Fan Zhendong and managed to hold on in the game, according to a report by China Central Television.

"Just like in the quarterfinal match between Fan and Tomokazu Harimoto at the Paris Olympics, he was 0-2 down but still managed to pull off a comeback win. If he could do it, so could I. Today, when I was down 0-4 at the start, I encouraged myself in the same way," Zhang said after the game. 

As an unseeded pair, Zhang and Mladenovic reached the US Open final in 2024 after battling to a three-set hard-fought win over Wimbledon champions Siniakova and Townsend.

In the mixed doubles, Zhang and India's Rohan Bopanna progressed to the quarterfinals on Sunday after receiving a walkover against fourth seeds Taylor Townsend and Hugo Nys.

Meanwhile, China's Zheng Saisai and Wang Xinyu were outlasted by Kamilla Rakhimova and Sara Sorribes Tormo in an agonizing 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (8) defeat in the third round of the women's doubles on Monday. 

The match lasted 2 hours and 44 minutes as the two pairs went neck to neck all the way to the tiebreak.

The Chinese duo has shown good understanding and coordination on the court. While both are strong from the baseline, their ability to work at the net added a lot of value to their partnership. Zheng is quite aggressive at the net while Wang has shown solid ball control. But some errors at the critical moment cost them the match, Liu said.

Earlier, Zhang Zhizhen wrapped up his Australian Open campaign as he and Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic were defeated by the 15th seed pair, Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Hugo Nys 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 in the third round of the men's doubles.

Regarding participating in three events at the Australian Open, Zhang, 28, said it's not that exhausting. "It's okay to compete in three events. I decided to play mixed doubles only after losing in the first round of singles, so it's manageable and not as exhausting as I imagined. In Grand Slams, the schedule is usually spread out quite well, so there's no situation where I have to play two matches in one day. It's quite manageable," he said. 

Zhang and his Czech partner Katerina Siniakova were beaten by 8th seeds Andres Molteni and Asia Muhammad 3-6, 6-7 in their first-round mixed doubles match on Friday. He suffered a first-round exit in the singles after falling short to Holger Rune in a five-set slog.