Peng and Hsieh maintain fun factor to reach semis

Chinese mainland's Peng Shuai and Hsieh Su-wei, her partner from Chinese Taipei, advanced to the semifinals of women's doubles at the Australian Open on Tuesday.

The pair qualified after vanquishing fourth-seeded Czech duo Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova 6-1, 6-4.

So far, Peng and Hsieh have been in such fine form that they haven't dropped a set at the tournament.

When asked about the secret to their success, the two players simultaneously smiled and said: "Because my partner is just so good!"

With an enduring friendship that has lasted over 20 years, Peng explained the pair focuses all their efforts not on winning but on enjoying the game.

"We played very good together in tournaments about two to three years ago, but at that time we had a lot of pressure," said Peng.

"Now we concentrate on just playing and having fun on the court."

The main reason for the difference in attitude, according to Peng, came about by circumstance and not by choice.

"Everybody here worries a lot about their partner, their shape and whether they are ready for the Open," she said.

"I had to have knee surgery, and when I told her (Hsieh) she said, 'OK, just tell me which tournaments you want to play and we will have fun."

The new approach appears to be working for the duo, who will now fight for a place in the final on Thursday.

Meanwhile, China's Xu Yifan and her Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski narrowly missed making the semifinals when they dropped a three-set thriller to Russia's Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina by scores of 6-0, 1-6, 6-7 (2).

In junior action, China's Wang Xinyu proved why she's the tournament's top seed, outclassing American Peyton Stearns 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the second round.

Edmund advances

Meanwhile, there will be a British man in the Open semifinals for the seventh time in nine years after Kyle Edmund upset No 3-ranked Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday.

Edmund, who had never before played in a major quarterfinal, had lost both of his previous matches against Dimitrov and had never beaten a top-five player.

He checked all those boxes at Rod Laver Arena, setting himself up for a match against either top-ranked Rafael Nadal or No 6 Marin Cilic for a spot in the final of the season's first Grand Slam.

After breaking Dimitrov's serve in the ninth game of the fourth set, Edmund set up match point by firing an ace.

He then had to wait before a video challenge confirmed that Dimitrov's last shot－a floating backhand－was indeed out.

"I just held my nerve in that last game and prayed that last ball would be out," Edmund said.

It was. And so was Dimitrov, who lost a five-set semifinal here last year to Nadal and had beaten Edmund two weeks ago at the Brisbane International.

"When you're on these types of stages, reaching the last stages of the best tournaments in the world, it's very pleasing. But of course I want to keep going," an elated Edmund said.

Dimitrov, who won the season-ending ATP Finals in November, was gracious.

"Everything went his way today. It's hard to hide a disappointment. It hurts, and so it should. But he played great."

Xinhua