Source: Global Times
In the US Open women's doubles final that ended on the 13th, China's "Golden Flower" Zhang Shuai cooperated with Australian veteran Stosur to win the championship with a total score of 2:1 against the American combination of Gough / McNally. So far, Chinese women's tennis has achieved a "Golden Slam" achievement: from the Olympic Games to the four grand slam women's doubles competitions, Chinese players have climbed the highest podium.
Zhang Shuai said excitedly after winning the championship: "As the only Chinese player to participate in the US Open, [this championship] is so special. Reuters said that after winning the women's doubles title at the 2019 Australian Open, 32-year-old Zhang Shuai and 37-year-old Stosur defeated their younger opponents at this year's US Open to win the duo's second doubles Grand Slam. Prior to that, the duo reached the semi-finals of the 2018 US Open. It is worth mentioning that Zhang Shuai and Stosur won the Cincinnati Championship for the first time this year, and have won 11 consecutive games since then until the US Open wins the championship. Zhang Shuai described this as "incredible", and she was very grateful to Stosur as a good friend and partner: "The first thing she said to me at the time in Cincinnati was, 'We're going to tell the world, we're back.'" ”
In this US Open, Zhang Shuai fought in the women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles: in the women's singles field, Zhang Shuai lost to the British Chinese girl Raducano who finally won the championship in the second round; in the mixed doubles field, Zhang Shuai partnered with the famous Pierce, but was eliminated in the first round. The women's doubles victory is not only the first time in Zhang Shuai's career to win the US Open women's doubles championship, but also the best record of Chinese players in the US Open women's doubles, and she has also become the fourth player in China to win the Grand Slam women's doubles championship twice.
Prior to this, Li Ting/Sun Tiantian had won the women's doubles gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. This Chinese "golden flower" version of the Athenian fairy tale not only refreshed the history of the Olympic Games, but also opened the "fairy tale" of Chinese women's tennis: two years later, the Chinese duo Zheng Jie/Yan Zi won the Australian Open and Wimbledon women's doubles championships consecutively. At that time, Reuters commented that Zheng Jie/Yan Zi showed the skills and tacit understanding in the doubles match to the fullest, "Considering that Li Na also broke into the women's singles top 8 at Wimbledon, China, the world's most populous country, has shown great progress in the tennis event." In addition, in 2013 and 2014, Peng Shuai/Xie Shuwei, known as the "Straits Combination", won the Wimbledon and French Open women's doubles titles in succession. (Xu Yang)