LONDON, Great Britain – Defending doubles champions Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova are into the quarterfinals of The Championships after overcoming Anna-Lena Friedsam and Laura Siegemund, 7-6(6), 6-1.
The German pairing had impressed after flirting with defeat in the opening round and an early break of serve suggested that they were ready to make life difficult for the No.2 seeds.
It was an advantage swiftly eradicated by the Czech duo, who broke to 15, but after these two early games against the head, eight holds in succession followed, sending the opening set spinning into a tiebreak.
Four points in a row were reeled off by seeded couple to propel them into a healthy advantage but this was chiseled away by their rivals, who saved three set points and even drew back on terms at 6-6. However, the class of the two-time Grand Slam winners told.
The first set in the books, Krejcikova and Siniakova stepped up a gear in the second, immediately breaking. Crucially, they successfully faced down two break points in the subsequent game then moved 3-0 clear.
With the Germans ailing, the former WTA World No.1 doubles players eased to a place in the quarterfinals, where they will face No.8 seeds Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Demi Schuurs, who got the better of Anna Blinkova and Wang Yafan, 6-4, 7-6(7).
Meanwhile, No.4 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Xu Yifan were made to work hard for their 91-minute 7-5, 6-3 victory over No.13 seeds Duan Yingying and Zheng Shuai.
The Chinese pairing took command of the opening set early on and survived two break points to move 4-2 clear. However, the higher-ranked duo hit back by winning five of the last six games, typically playing the big points better.
If the first set was a prolonged affair, characterized by lengthy games, the second was its opposite, with just one opportunity to break. This was taken by the Canadian-Chinese partnership, who will face either Danielle Collins and Bethanie Mattek-Sands or Ashleigh Barty and Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals.
The passage of No.7 seeds Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke into the last eight was simpler as they defeated Nadiya Kichenok and Abigail Spears, 6-2, 6-3.
