Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei has been branded an upset specialist so far this year, but it might be time to start thinking of her as a legitimate contender for WTA Tour titles.
Two days after humbling world No. 1 Naomi Osaka in three sets at the Miami Open, the cagey 33-year-old veteran on Monday topped former world No. 1 and 13th seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-3, 6-7 (0/7), 6-2 in their round-of-16 match.
It was her fifth victory against a top-20 player this year and sent her to the first quarter-final of a WTA Premier Mandatory event in her career, where she was due to face 21st seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia.
Photo: EPA-EFE
That followed a strong showing at the Dubai Open, where she best the 10th, fifth and fourth seeds to reach the semi-final of a WTA Premier 5 event for the first time.
Hsieh endured several shifts in momentum to secure victory against the Dane.
Twice within two points of victory in the second set on Wozniacki’s serve, Hsieh lost 11 of the final 12 points, including all seven in the tiebreaker, but she regained her touch at the start of the third, losing only two points in the first four games.
Prior to shocking British seventh seed Johanna Konta at the French Open in 2017, Hsieh was best known as a doubles specialist.
She was ranked No. 1 in doubles after winning Wimbledon in 2013 and the French Open in 2014 with Peng Shuai of China.
She was ranked as high as world No. 23 in singles in 2013, but had never defeated a top-10 player until ousting Konta.
Hsieh then went on to upset world No. 3 Garbine Muguruza of Spain and former world No. 1 Agnieszka Radwanska at last year’s Australian Open, before stunning world No. 1 Simona Halep of Romania at Wimbledon the same year to signal her arrival as a real singles threat.
The 33-year-old said after her win over Osaka that the constant support she has from her traveling team, including boyfriend Frederic Aniere, has been a blessing.
“I was traveling [by] myself for a long time. I had a part-time coach. It wasn’t easy for a player to play in the [WTA] Tour when they don’t get a sponsor or they don’t get help,” she told the WTA Web site.
Though she has been worn down occasionally at the end of matches, Hsieh has shown unprecedented resilience in third sets, including coming from 5-1 down to stun fourth seed Karolina Pliskova in Dubai.
That might stem from a more regular fitness regimen.
“A long time ago I was doing less fitness and my tennis level was not going good like this year. The fitness was not very good,” Hsieh said.
In the second round of the women’s doubles, Taiwanese sisters Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan advanced to the quarter-finals with a 7-5, 6-2 win over unseeded Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands.
The eighth seeds saved seven of 11 break points and also converted seven of 11 to advance to a clash with Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Daria Kasatkina of Russia, who edged Shuko Aoyama of Japan and Lidziya Marozava of Belarus 6-3, 3-6, 15-13.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS