MELBOURNE, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's Peng Shuai and her partner from Chinese Taipei Hsieh Su-wei, have made it through to the semifinals of the women's doubles at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
The pair qualified after beating out fourth-seeded Czech duo Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova in straight sets 6-1, 6-4.
So far, Peng and Hsieh have been in such fine form that they haven't dropped a set during the campaign and when Xinhua asked what the secret to their success has been, the two players simultaneously smiled and said, "because my partner is just so good!"
With an enduring friendship that has lasted over 20 years, Peng explained, the pair have focused all their efforts not on winning but on enjoying their tennis.
"We played very good together in tournaments about 2-3 years before, but at that time we had a lot of pressure.
"Now we decided to just play and have fun on the court."
The main reason for the difference in attitude according to Peng, came about by circumstance and not by choice.
"Everybody here worries a lot about their partner, their shape and whether they are ready for the Open," Peng said.
"Ten weeks before I had knee surgery but when I told her [Hsieh] she said it's ok, just tell me which tournaments you want to play and we will have fun."
The new approach appears to be working for the duo, who will now fight for a place in the final on Thursday.
Meanwhile China's Xu Yifan and her Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski, narrowly missed out on making the semifinals after going down to Russia's Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, in a three-set thriller.
The final score finished 6-0, 1-6, 6-7 (2-7).
In junior actions, China's Wang Xinyu proved why she's the tournament's top seed, outclassing American Peyton Stearns 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the second round.
