Chinese Taipei鈥檚 Hsieh enjoying a memorable run
Print Edition
Ten years after a stunning run to the fourth round of the Australian Open on her main draw debut, Chinese Taipei鈥檚 Hsieh Su-wei has enjoyed double good fortune at Melbourne Park this week.
The willow-thin 32-year-old from the steamy southern city of Kaohsiung will line up in the last 16 again after a second fairytale week at the year鈥檚 first grand slam.
A marquee center court clash against the 2016 champion Angelique Kerber lies ahead, a formidable challenge for the world No. 88. Yet with the reigning Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza and former world No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska among the victims in her wake, doubles specialist Hsieh will head into a heaving Rod Laver Arena largely free of pressure.
鈥淒on鈥檛 talk about me beating her, it鈥檚 more likely I鈥檒l get beaten to death!鈥 Taiwan鈥檚 number one joked on Sunday. 鈥淚 think I鈥檝e just got to try to be positive, take each game as it comes and fight it out to the end.鈥
While tearing through the singles draw, Hsieh has had to juggle doubles commitments with China鈥檚 Peng Shuai, a successful cross-strait partnership that has already yielded Wimbledon and French Open titles. The pair have made the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park, an added sweetener for Hsieh, one of the rare tour competitors who plays double-handed on both sides.
Her unorthodox style and wealth of doubles experience has seemed to pay off in her singles game this week, conjuring improbable angles that have often tied her opponents in knots. Her array of drop shots and slices can drive 鈥減eople kind of crazy,鈥 former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova once remarked after beating her at Wimbledon in 2012.
It鈥檚 all based on feel rather than premeditation, said Hsieh, whose father had her play two-handed when she was starting out as a child.
It stuck through her junior days and remains her signature.
鈥淲hen I was little I was very skinny, like this,鈥 she said, holding up her index finger. 鈥淚 was five when I started to play and I didn鈥檛 have much power ... I couldn鈥檛 grasp a racket with one hand properly so I went with two.鈥
Hsieh was 22 when she made the fourth round of the 2008 Australian Open as a qualifier, eventually stopped by seven-time grand slam champion Justine Henin.
A decade on, she will be the oldest player competing in the last 16, a fact she acknowledged somewhat reluctantly.
鈥淚 look cute and young! I don鈥檛 think too much about the age thing,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 was told I have the body of a 20-year-old because I haven鈥檛 played all that much ... I鈥檝e been quite fortunate without serious injuries as well. So I still think there is room for improvement.鈥
A sharp increase in her ranking should help that late-blooming push, by putting her into more competitive tournaments. Taiwan lacks a world class tennis program and facilities, said Hsieh, and she can hone her game with few elite compatriots.
Kerber, with her former world No. 1 ranking and two grand slam titles, is quite a step up from Taiwan鈥檚 No. 2, the 259th-ranked Chang Kai-chen. Not that Hsieh will be guilty of over-analyzing the German.
鈥淪he鈥檚 a great player, it鈥檚 fair to say she probably has the advantage with skill and power,鈥 said Hsieh. 鈥淢y advantage is that I am free-style. I don鈥檛 really tend to go in with a game-plan, I kind of just do what comes naturally.鈥
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