Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Polish partner Jan Zielinski yesterday advanced to the Australian Open mixed doubles final after a straight-sets semi-final win over Jaimee Fourlis and Andrew Harris.
Hsieh and Zielinski dispatched local favorites Fourlis and Harris 7-6 (10/8), 6-2 at Melbourne Park and face second seeds Desirae Krawczyk of the US and Neal Skupski of Britain in tomorrow’s final.
Having clinched victory in less than 60 minutes in all their previous matches at the tournament, Hsieh and Zielinski did not have an easy start.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The first set took nearly 60 minutes and ended with a tiebreak, in which the duo saved three set points before finally winning 10/8.
In the second set, Hsieh and Zielinski broke serve twice and led 5-1. The duo then missed two match points, but rallied to win 6-2.
Earlier, Hsieh also reached the semi-finals of the women’s doubles with Belgian partner Elise Mertens.
Second seeds Hsieh and Mertens, who won the women’s doubles title at Wimbledon together in 2021, defeated ninth seeds Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands and Luisa Stefani of Brazil 6-4, 6-2.
They are to face third seeds Storm Hunter of Australia and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic today for a place in the final.
Hsieh’s previous best performance in the women’s doubles in Melbourne was a second-placed finish at the 2020 Australian Open with Czech partner Barbora Strycova.
In the women’s singles, Chinese 12th seed Zheng Qinwen came from a set down to beat unseeded Russian Anna Kalinskaya, setting up a semi-final against Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska.
The 21-year-old, known to her fans as “Queen Wen,” had never progressed beyond the quarter-finals in eight previous Grand Slam appearances, but held her nerve to win 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-1 in 2 hours, 20 minutes.
“In the first set we had a big competition and the match was really tough for me,” she said. “I just told myself to stay focused, not think anymore about the first set, and I’m so happy right now, like really excited.”
The victory means Zheng will move into the top 10 for the first time when the rankings are published after the Australian Open.
“That’s good news for me, another motivation, and especially [after] I said last year at the Australian Open I wanted to be top 10 and one year later I’m here,” she said. “It’s an amazing moment.”
Earlier, Yastremska kept things on track with a swift 6-3, 6-4 win over giant-killing Czech Linda Noskova to become the first women’s qualifier to make the last four since 1978.
In the men’s singles, Daniil Medvedev pounced on the few chances offered up by Hubert Hurkacz to seal a semi-final spot.
Third seed Medvedev, who lost back-to-back Melbourne Park finals in 2021 and 2022, took a step closer to returning to the final with a 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win over Poland’s Hurkacz.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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