China’s Zhang Shuai partners with Elise Mertens to reach women’s doubles Australian Open final
The fourth-seeded pair will face seventh seeds Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia and Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan on Saturday
China’s Zhang Shuai has reached the final of the women’s doubles of the Australian Open, partnering Belgium’s Elise Mertens to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Ena Shibahara of Japan and Russian Vera Zvonareva in the semi-finals on Thursday.
The fourth-seeded pair will face seventh seeds Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia and Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan in the final on Saturday.
Krunic and Danilina beat the fifth seeds, Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani of Brazil, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 in the other semi-final.
Former world No 1 doubles player Mertens, who partnered with Zhang to finish runner up at Wimbledon in 2022, confirmed the doubles partnership late last year.
The pair first played together in 2019, with their run to the final at Wimbledon their best result until now.
Zhang, 37, is no stranger to winning grand slam doubles titles, having won the Australian Open in 2019 and the US Open two years later, both times with Australian Sam Stosur.