Zhang, Mladenovic gallant in women's doubles defeat against top seeds at Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Shuai and Kristina Mladenovic's run at the Australian Open has ended with defeat in the women's doubles quarterfinals.

Ninth seeds Zhang and Mladenovic were beaten by the top-seeded duo of Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova 6-1, 7-5 in 70 minutes at Melbourne Park on Wednesday afternoon.

After losing the first set in under half an hour, Zhang and Mladenovic were ga