US Open 2017: India's campaign ends as Sania Mirza, Shuai Peng bow out
New York: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Chinese partner Peng Shuai suffered a major blow as they knocked out of the US Open after going down in the semi-finals of the women's doubles event here at the Flushing Meadows last event.
The Indo-Chinese duo failed to replicate their good performances in the tournament so far and slump to a 4-6, 4-6 defeat to Swiss-Taiwanese team of Martina Hingis and Chan Yung-Jan in a gruelling last-four clash that lasted almost one and a half hour.
With Sania's defeat, the Indian challenge in the tournament also ended.
Last month, Mirza and Peng, who had joined forces at the beginning of the US Open Series, made it to the semi-finals of the 2017 Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati before slumping to a straight-sets defeat at the hands of Taiwanese-Romanian pair of Hsieh Su-wei and Monica Niculescu.
Hingis, who won the US Open women's doubles title with Mirza in 2015, and Yung-Jan will now cross swords with the winner of the other semi-final clash Lucie Hradecka-Katerina Siniakova of Czech Republic.
In the men's singles clash, South Africa's Kevin Anderson and world number one Rafael Nadal have set up a title clash after winning their respective matches this morning.
Spanish maestro Nadal produced a spirited performance as he rebound strongly from a set down to register a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 win over Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina in a thrilling clash that lasted two and a half hour.
It should be noted that del Potro had earlier defeated 19-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in the quarter-finals to knock him out of the US Open.
Anderson, on the other hand, also bounced back from a set down to clinch a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 win over 12th-seed Pablo Carreño Busta of Spain and make it to the summit showdown.
