Mladenovic and Shuai Upset Third Seeds at U.S. Open

Kristina Mladenovic and Zhang Shuai halted Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova's chance for a consecutive major women's doubles title, winning 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 at the U.S. Open. Mladenovic and Shuai will now face Jelena Ostapenko and Lyudmyla Kichenok in the semifinals.

Kristina Mladenovic and Zhang Shuai ended the pursuit of Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova for a second consecutive major women's doubles title, defeating the No. 3 seeds 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 on Wednesday at the U.S. Open.

Mladenovic and Shuai, who displayed remarkable resilience, will compete against the No. 7-seeded team of Jelena Ostapenko and Lyudmyla Kichenok on Friday. Ostapenko and Kichenok previously lost the final of the Australian Open to Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens earlier this year.

Siniakova has enjoyed a successful run in Grand Slam doubles, recently winning titles at the French Open with Coco Gauff and at Wimbledon with Townsend. Despite this loss, Townsend could still emerge victorious at the U.S. Open as she vies for the mixed doubles title with Donald Young on Thursday. Ostapenko and Kichenok convincingly defeated the No. 10-seeded team of Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova 6-1, 6-2 in their quarterfinal match.

(With inputs from agencies.)