Third seeds Zhang Shuai of the Chinese mainland and Ellen Perez of Australia survived two nail-biting tie-breaks at the WTA Queen's Club in London, edging Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-6(3), 7-6(5) to reach the quarterfinals.
The match almost slipped away early when Zhang and Perez were broken in the opening game. Undeterred, they rallied back—Perez unleashed a stunning overhead smash to turn the tide and set up the first-set tie-break. A double fault from Mihalikova on set point sealed it 7-3, putting the third seeds up 1-0.
The second set mirrored the drama of the first. Both pairs held serve until another tie-break was needed, where Zhang and Perez stayed cool under pressure. Once again, a double fault from their European rivals handed them the 7-5 decider and straight-sets victory.
Next up for Zhang and Perez are Timea Babos of Hungary and Luisa Stefani of Brazil in the last eight. With momentum on their side, the third seeds look set to continue their run on the grass courts at Queen's Club.
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Zhang Shuai, Perez fight past Mihalikova, Nicholls at WTA Queen's Club
cgtn.com
