Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and her partner Ivan Dodig of Croatia won the Grand Slam mixed doubles title June 7 at the French Open in Paris, the first time for a locally born player to accomplish the feat.
The pair dispatched reigning champion Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Mate Pavic of Croatia 6-1, 6-7 (5), 10-8. Starting with a smooth victory in the first set, Chan and Dodig maintained momentum in the second with the Croat serving for the match at 5-3. But Dabrowski-Pavic fought back and pushed the second to a tiebreaker.
Chan and Dodig fell behind as their opponents reeled off six straight points to take the second 7-6 (5). The subsequent 10-point super tiebreaker saw Pavic double-fault at 8-all, resulting in match point and the win for the Taiwan-Croat duo in 91 minutes.
After defeating the current Australian Open title holders, Chan thanked her fans and said the win was quite unexpected, especially as she was battling the effects of a lingering rib injury. Chan also paid tribute to former partner, the now-retired Martina Hingis of Switzerland, for cheering her on from courtside.
Later the same day, Chan and Hingis attended the International Tennis Federation World Champions Dinner and received the women’s doubles award in recognition of their nine-title 2017 season. The pair’s highest-profile victory came at the U.S. Open last September where they claimed the Grand Slam—a first for the duo, Chan and a player from Taiwan. (KWS-E)
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