Hsieh Su-wei Makes History with Second Australian Open Doubles Title

Taiwanese tennis player Hsieh Su-wei has achieved a historic milestone in her career, becoming the first Taiwanese athlete to win two titles at the same Grand Slam event. Hsieh, along with her Belgian partner Elise Mertens, secured the women’s doubles title at the Australian Open on Sunday.

The second-seeded pair defeated the 11th-seeded duo of Lyudmyla Kichenok from Ukraine and Jelena Ostapenko from Latvia in an intense match that lasted 1 hour and 33 minutes. Hsieh and Mertens showcased their skills and teamwork, winning 6-1, 7-5.

This victory comes on the heels of a successful fortnight for Hsieh, who also won the Australian Open mixed doubles title on Friday, partnering with Jan Zielinski of Poland. In that match, Hsieh overcame a match point to secure the title.

Expressing her gratitude during the victory speech, Hsieh thanked the sponsors and the Victoria government for organizing the tournament. Mertens also acknowledged their opponents and praised the tough competition they faced in the final.

After breezing through the first set in just 27 minutes, the second set proved to be more challenging. Hsieh and Mertens found themselves trailing 2-0 initially but managed to make a strong comeback, winning five of the next six games. With Mertens serving for the match at 5-3, they broke Kichenok’s serve at love in the 12th game and sealed the victory.

This win makes Hsieh the first player since 2000 to clinch both the Australian Open women’s and mixed doubles titles in the same year. Additionally, at the age of 38, she becomes the second-oldest woman to win a Grand Slam women’s doubles title, second only to Lisa Raymond.

In her impressive doubles career, Hsieh has now accumulated seven Grand Slam women’s doubles titles. Prior to the Australian Open, she had won the Wimbledon doubles title four times and the French Open doubles title twice, with various partners.

Some of her successful partnerships include Peng Shuai from China, with whom she won her first two women’s doubles titles in 2013 and 2014. She also triumphed at the French Open in 2023 with Wang Xinyu, another Chinese player. Hsieh’s collaboration with Barbora Strýcová from the Czech Republic proved fruitful, as they captured the Wimbledon crown in 2019 and 2023. Furthermore, she paired up with Mertens herself to win the Wimbledon title in 2021.