Taiwanese tennis star Hsieh Su-wei and her Chinese partner Peng Shuai sweat it out to beat a Czech-Argentine pair yesterday, advancing them to the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
In a tough match against opponents Eva Hrdinova of the Czech Republic and Paula Ormaechea of Argentina, the cross-strait duo worked together under the sweltering summer heat to break the tie left after the first two sets ended in 6-7, 7-6.
Hsieh and Peng unleashed a series of attacks to overcome their opponents 6-0 in the final set, despite temperatures soaring to above 40?C in surrounding areas.
Photo: AFP
Hsieh and Peng have been working to redeem themselves in women’s doubles after both were eliminated from the women’s singles competition. Hsieh lost to Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 on Tuesday.
Peng, apparently affected by the torrid heat, cramped up and vomited on Wednesday before losing to Japan’s Kurumi Nara.
Following yesterday’s win, the cross-strait pair will next take on Israel’s Shahar Peer and Spain’s Silvia Soler-Espinosa.
Another Taiwanese player, world No. 232 Chan Yung-jan, and her Slovakian partner, Janette Husarova, were defeated by the Israeli-Spanish pair on Wednesday.
This year marks the 10th time that second-seeded Hsieh and Peng have appeared at the Australian Open. Last year, they entered the third round of the women’s doubles and lost in the top 16 to first-seeded Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy, the ultimate title winners.
Hsieh and Peng had better showings at Wimbledon and the TEB BNP Paribas Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Championship, taking both titles to rank third in the world for women’s doubles.
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