On January 17, Beijing time, the Chinese doubles pair Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan lost 4-6/4-6 to the No. 3 seeds Xie Shuwei/Ostapenko in the second round of the women's doubles at the 2025 Australian Open.

Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan

Reviewing the game after the game, Xu Yifan said: "Today's opponent played a very good first set, especially Xie Shuwei controlled the situation very well. In the end, we were actually in a very passive situation, and I think it is very positive to be able to adjust this state in time. Although we still couldn't win the second set, we were quite satisfied with the situation in the end for the two of us today. Of course, in the end, we couldn't suppress our opponents in terms of speed, so it was still difficult to win more points. ”

The doubles duo of Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan won the women's doubles gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, won three WTA Tour titles, including the WTA 1000 Indian Wells 2022, and qualified for the 2022 WTA Finals. Yang Zhaoxuan was injured in the first round of the women's doubles at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, and after treatment, she returned to the competition in the Chinese season last year. This season, Yang Zhaoxuan and Xu Yifan reorganized, and the two hope to play back together in the rankings.

Talking about the current recovery from the injury, Yang Zhaoxuan said: "The leg has improved, including better than the return to Ningbo and Guangzhou at the end of last year. I've also talked to athletes who have suffered the same injury, and there may be no problem with the knee in the process, but there will be a lot of problems elsewhere, because after the injury, the torque in the body changes, which is a very normal physiological reaction. Now more injuries will appear on the good side, I will subconsciously avoid my injured leg, and now it is in such a process, the whole from last year's comeback started with the ankle, then the front thigh, and now the injuries are happening on the left side anyway, but I think it should get better and better, and I am also going through a hurdle now. ”

Xu Yifan recalled that during Yang Zhaoxuan's injury, she partnered with more than a dozen different players, and she said that it felt very down-to-earth to have a regular partner. "Because we can train together a lot, I feel very grounded when I'm competing. Win or lose, know what kind of tactics we will bring to this game, even if it doesn't work, but we have a tactical idea of our own. But I've been changing partners for sure that I have to get familiar with my partner's style of play first, and then my personality, and I really had a lot of interesting experiences last year, and I think it's pretty good. In my career, I've never been in a situation where I've been changing partners. ”

"I think the only good thing is that it's really a challenge for someone of my character. Because I'm not a particularly active player to express my emotions, I'm more introverted, but a lot of times I can't help it, I have to throw myself out and get to know my partner, and two people who can be more comfortable on the field to cooperate. I feel that I have been able to make several close and truly good friends through these experiences, and this is what I have learned. On the court, I feel a little bit more mature, I used to be anxious about how I played, but now I may focus more on myself, all I can do is myself, and then I can cater to some of my partner's style of play. ”

(Text and editor: Dato)