Chinese tennis pair Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan exited the 2026 Australian Open women's doubles after a 0–2 defeat in the second round to top seeds Taylor Townsend of the United States and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic on Friday. Despite facing formidable opponents, Xu and Yang showed strong resistance, especially in the opening set, which they narrowly lost 7-9.
"I actually feel we played really well today. Given our current condition, our teamwork was very well done. We stuck to the strategies we prepared before the match. I think we were close to 100 percent on the performance. We're satisfied with how we played. Although the result wasn't ideal, what matters the most is the process," Xu said after the match.
"Overall, I think we performed pretty well today. We showed our true proficiency and strength. Maybe we lacked a little bit of luck in some crucial moments, or we just needed to be a bit more decisive. That's something we can still improve next time," Yang said.
Reflecting on takeaways from the match, both players pointed to handling decisive points more effectively. "I think it comes down to the mindset during key points," Xu said.
"Yes, we could've been more aggressive when the match was tight. In the first set we were leading and held our serve early. On returns, we could have played more boldly. At the time, I think we were a bit caught up wanting to win," Yang said.
The Chinese pair expressed their intent to take confidence from the performance and return stronger in future matches.
Chinese duo proud of performance despite narrow loss at Australian Open
