China's Xu teams up with Melichar to reach last 8 in US Open tuneup

WASHINGTON -- China's Xu Yifan partnered with American Nicole Melichar to defeat Cori Gauff and Catherine McNally to reach the third round of the Western &Southern Open women's doubles event on Tuesday.

Gauff and McNally, both from the United States, won the opening set but failed to keep the momentum, losing at 3-6, 6-3, 10-6 in one hour and 20 minutes.

Xu and Melichar, seeded second in the event, will next face Russian duo Anna Blinkova and Veronika Kudermetova in the quarterfinals.

The Western &Southern Open is slated for Aug. 20-28 in New York, at the same site used for the US Open. The hard-court tuneup is normally held in Cincinnati but was moved this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.