Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday fought back from a set and a double break down to advance to her fourth WTA Tour quarter-final of the season at the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Rabat, Morocco.
Second seed Hsieh fought back to record a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena in 1 hour, 58 minutes, her fifth straight victory over the world No. 110.
World No. 24 Hsieh saved 10 of 15 break points and converted six of seven to advance to a quarter-final against British seventh seed Johanna Konta, who defeated Ana Bogdan of Romania 6-1, 6-7 (6/8), 6-2 in 1 hour, 59 minutes.
“On clay, it can be pretty good, it can be pretty bad. I know I can suddenly get the feeling and I can feel really comfortable on the court,” Hsieh told the WTA Web site.
“I was aggressive and I picked up my game almost at the last moment,” she said of rallying from a set a 3-5 down.
“It was tough, because normally I handle the court pretty well, but today it looked like she was handling the drop shots and the volleys better than me — I was a little bit upset,” she added.
The Taiwanese No. 1’s only appearance in a WTA clay-court semi-final was in Rabat last year and she had the chance repeat that feat against world No. 47 Konta.
However, Hsieh has a 2-4 career record against the Briton and she has lost their previous three meetings — at Wimbledon in 2017, in Rome last year and in Indian Wells, California, in March.
Also advancing to the quarter-finals was Belgian top seed Elise Mertens, who defeated Ivana Jorovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-0. She was due to face Greek sixth seed Maria Sakkari, who beat Bulgaria’s Isabella Shinikova 6-4, 6-4.
Australian fourth seed Ajla Tomljanovic defeated Swiss wild-card Timea Bacsinszky 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 to set up a clash with Rebecca Peterson of Sweden, who beat Polona Hercog of Slovenia 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.
Eighth seed Alison van Uytvanck crushed Varvara Lepchenko of the US 6-4, 6-0 to set up a quarter-final against fellow Belgian Ysaline Bonaventure, who outlasted Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
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Taiwanese tennis star Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles at the French Open, after she and German partner Mark Wallner defeated Slovenian Andreja Klepac and Briton Lloyd Glasspool in straight sets, despite temperatures exceeding 32°C in Paris, while Taiwan’s top men’s doubles player Ray Ho also reached the second round. Hsieh, who made it to the semi-finals in the mixed doubles at Roland Garros in 2024, and Wallner defeated Klepac and Glasspool 6-3, 7-5 in just more than an hour, converting three of five break points, while holding their opponents to just one conversion
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