Taiwanese tennis ace Hsieh Su-wei yesterday eased into her first mixed doubles semi-final in nine years at the Australian Open, while Novak Djokovic battled into his 11th semi-final in Melbourne and Coco Gauff was forced to dig deep in the searing heat.
The third seed duo of Hsieh and Poland’s Jan Zielinski beat American Nicole Melichar-Martinez and German Kevin Krawietz 6-2, 6-3 in just under 60 minutes.
Hsieh and Zielinski led 4-1 in the first set after two breaks and went on to win the set for the loss of just one more game.
Photo: AFP
In the second set, Hsieh and Zielinski broke their opponents’ serve in the seventh game to lead 4-3. They clinched victory two games later.
This is the first time Hsieh has reached the mixed doubles semi-final at the Australian Open since 2015, equaling her personal best in the mixed doubles event.
Seeking her first Australian Open mixed doubles title, Hsieh said she enjoyed the match and is looking forward to more victories with Zielinski.
They next face wildcard duo Jaimee Fourlis and Andrew Harris of Australia.
Today, the second seed pairing of Hsieh, a four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion and two-time French Open women’s doubles champion, and Belgium partner Elise Mertens are to play ninth seed Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands and Luisa Stefani of Brazil in the women’s doubles quarter-finals.
In the men’s singles, Serbian superstar Djokovic came through a probing test on Rod Laver Arena against 12th seeded American Taylor Fritz 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to keep his bid for a 25th major crown on track.
Djokovic almost always gets the evening slot on center court, but was bumped to the afternoon on a day where temperatures soared to 32°C, and the world No. 1 admitted it was hard going.
“Physically and emotionally very draining,” he said after the three hour and 45 minute slog, adding that he “suffered a lot” in the first two sets.
“He was serving well, staying close to the line and kind of suffocating me from the back of the court,” he said. “I think I upped my game probably midway through the third set all the way to the end.”
Error-strewn US Open champion Gauff was also put through the paces before outlasting unseeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk after more than three hours, 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (3/7), 6-2.
Her performance would not strike fear into whoever she plays next, with the 19-year-old struggling on serve and wasting countless opportunities.
She admitted it was below-par, giving herself only a “C” rating.
“Hopefully got the bad match out of the way and I can play even better,” she said.
The low standard was not confined to Gauff, with the pair making a staggering 107 unforced errors between them — there were 16 service breaks.
Kostyuk rued missing her chances, letting slip a 5-1 lead and squandering set points in the first set, but said she was proud of how she fought.
“Very proud of myself. I won for myself today, and I think it’s the most important thing,” said the 21-year-old, who has been vocal at the tournament about keeping people’s focus on the conflict in her homeland.
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