Fourth-seeded Xu Yifan into doubles semifinals at Wimbledon

LONDON -- Fourth-seeded Xu Yifan from China and Gabriela Dabrowski from Canada have reached the women's doubles semifinals at Wimbledon, beating Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Danielle Collins from the United States 6-1, 6-3 on Wednesday.

Earlier on Monday, Xu and Dabrowski reached the 4th round, beating 13th-seeded Duan Yingying and Zheng Saisai from China 7-5, 6-3.

"I enjoy the ladies' doubles and I am eager to win the Grand Slam title. I will just try to make my career as long as possible," Xu said.

At last month's French Open, one of the quarterfinals was a duel between the two pairs. Duan and Zheng defeated Xu and her partner 2-6, 7-5, 5-7.

Last year, Xu and Dabrowski reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Xu has teamed up Dabrowski during recent years as the fourth-seeded at Wimbledon.

Xu and Dabrowski made a quick switch from clay court in France to lawn in England. In the 2nd round, Xu and Dabrowski defeated Kateryna Kozlova from Ukraine and Arina Rodionova from Russia 6-2, 6-1 last Friday.