Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday claimed her second doubles title of the season at the Biel Ladies Open.
Hsieh and Romania’s Monica Niculescu rallied from a set down to edge Swiss duo Timea Bacsinszky and Martina Hingis 5-7, 6-3, 10-7 in 1 hour, 45 minutes.
The second seeds saved just one of six break points, but they converted five of 10, winning 68 of the 131 points contested.
It was Hsieh’s second WTA Tour title of the season after she teamed up with Oksana Kalashnikova to win the Hungarian Ladies Open in Budapest in February.
In the semi-finals of the singles on Saturday, qualifier Marketa Vondrousova stunned top seed Barbora Strycova, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 in an all-Czech clash.
“It’s really amazing,” the 19-year-old told the WTA Web site. “I didn’t expect this, but I played really great tennis, stayed focused on every point and I made it.”
Vondrousova saved two of four break points and converted four of seven, winning 71 of the 124 points contested to advance to her first WTA Tour final.
“I didn’t know I could play this good,” she said. “We don’t know each other so much, so I just played my game. I’m a bit tired now, but I was able to stay focused today.”
The Czech was due to face Estonian 21-year-old Anett Kontaveit in the final after she won a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 thriller against Aliaksandra Sasnovich earlier on Saturday.
“I just want to play a good game and don’t want to think about tomorrow’s match being a final. I’ll talk about it with my coach,” Vondrousova said. “We were watching [Kontaveit’s] semi-final, so I’m sure my coach will give me a lot to think about.”
Kontaveit saved 10 of 14 break points and converted five of 14, winning 114 of the 224 points contested to advance to her debut WTA Tour final.
“I feel really good and really happy to be in my first final,” the Estonian told the WTA Web site. “I was down a break twice in the third set, but I tried to stay in there even though she was playing really well. I was just trying to stay with her, do what I always do: fight and not give up. Mentally, I toughed it out.”
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