The 2022 Australian Open continued in Melbourne, with China's Golden Flower remaining zhang Shuai as the No. 2 seed in mixed doubles to play with Pierce in the second round of the match, resulting in the duo defeating Pella/Kurkhov 2-0 (7-5/6-3) in four breaks, reaching the top 8 of mixed doubles for the first time in the Australian Open, and the opponent of Zhang Shuai/Pierce in the quarterfinals was Chaihara Yingcai/McLaren.
Zhang Shuai played three events at the Australian Open, reaching the third round in the women's singles competition and losing two 2-6 to Belgium's Mertens to stop the round of 32, and the women's doubles teamed up with Stosur as the No. 4 seed to unexpectedly stop the second round. Mixed doubles partner Pierce easily passed two levels as the No. 2 seed and reached the quarterfinals. Although Zhang Shuai is 33 years old, the veteran is physically energetic, able to double in a hot summer day in Melbourne and can persevere, and the mixed doubles top 8 is also the best result creator for Chinese players at this Australian Open.
In the first set of the first set, Zhang Shuai/Pierce took the lead in serving, but he could not find the feel of the serve for a long time, and the mistakes were constantly forced out of the 3 break points by the opponent, but fortunately, he did not let the opponent succeed, and after struggling to save the break point, he took a 1-0 lead. In the second set, Zhang Shuai/Pierce gradually got into a good situation, and there was a wonderful crossing in the opponent's serve, there was a high-pressure interception in front of the net, and there was a bottom line confrontation score, and finally took the lead in completing the break. The score became 4-2 after each side saved in the next four sets, and in the 7th set Zhang Shuai/Pierce failed to defend their own serve and was broken by the opponent and then saved in the 8th set, achieving a 4-4 draw. Zhang Shuai/Pierce took a 6-5 lead in the first 11 innings, and the 12th set was a non-defensive serve of opponents Pella/Kurkhov, Zhang Shuai/Pierce was not soft, using the bottom line tug-of-war to patiently find opportunities in front of the net to hit a fatal blow, and finally won the first set of the first set 7-5 with the second break.
In the second set, Zhang Shuai/Pierce continued to play strongly, after holding the first serve, he successfully broke the opponent's serve in the second set and once again took a 2-0 lead, and in the third set, Zhang Shuai/Pierce, despite the stubborn resistance of the opponent and equalizing the score, still struggled to save the serve and achieved the fourth break of the game in the fourth set, achieving a 4-0 advantage. After each side saved a set, Zhang Shuai/Pierce came to the serve to win the game with a 5-1 score, and the opponent was not willing to give up, suddenly found a feeling of breaking the shot to chase back a set, and then saved the 8th set. In the 9th set, Zhang Shuai/Pierce's serve won the game, the two did not slip the opportunity away, a wave of attacks with four consecutive goals, and finally won the whole game 6-3.
Zhang Shuai / Pierce first into the Australian Open mixed doubles 8, in the previous Grand Slam tournaments, Zhang Shuai has entered the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open mixed doubles top 8, the only australian open, this year is also to achieve the Grand Slam mixed doubles all reached the top 8 of the great cause. Zhang Shuai/Pierce will be the 8th seed Shibahara Yingcai/McLaren in the quarterfinals, and Zhang Shuai, as the only remaining Chinese tennis golden flower, is expected to continue to advance to the semifinals.