The Latest: Hsieh to return to doubles No. 1 in Australia

By Associated Press 30 January 2020, 12:00AM

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Latest on the Australian Open (all times local):

2:20 p.m.

Hsieh Su-wei is set to return to the WTA's No. 1 doubles ranking for the first time in five years after combining with Barbora Strycova to reach the final of the Australian Open.

Hsieh, from Taiwan first held the top ranking in 2014.

She will overtake her current doubles partner Strycova when the rankings are released Monday. The team has won five titles together over the last year, including Wimbledon and the WTA Finals.

Hsieh and Strycova will play second-seeded Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic in Friday's final at Melbourne Park.

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1:55 p.m.

Max Purcell and Luke Saville have reached the Australian Open doubles final, giving the host nation a chance at grabbing the title for the first time in 22 years.

The Australian pair, who got a wild-card entry for the tournament, edged fourth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Filip Polasek of Slovakia 6-7 (7), 6-3, 6-4 in their semifinal.

They're vying to be the first Australians to win the Australian Open men's doubles title since Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde in 1998 when they play 11th-seeded Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the final. Ram of the U.S. and Salisbury of Britain advanced to the final by beating Kazakhstan duo Alexander Bublik and Mikhail Kukushkin 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 .

Saville is coached by Craig Tyzzer, who steered Australian Ash Barty to the women's No. 1 ranking. Barty was playing in the women's singles semifinal against American Sofia Kenin in the following match on Rod Laver Arena.

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More AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

By Associated Press 30 January 2020, 12:00AM

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