Hsieh Su-Wei, at 35, Reaches a Well-Deserved Singles Milestone

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Hsieh Su-Wei, at 35, Reaches a Well-Deserved Singles Milestone

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday February 13, 2021

Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei has knocked on the door at the Grand Slams before, but on Sunday in Australia she busted through it in a big way to become the oldest WTA player in history to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Hsieh, the current doubles No.1 and a three-time major doubles champion defeated Marketa Vondrousova 6-4 6-2 on Day 7 to reach the last eight of the Happy Slam in her 38th appearance at a major.

Hsieh, who upset No.8-seeded Bianca Andreescu in the second round, converted four of eight break points and struck 16 winners to set a quarter-final match with Naomi Osaka.

Only four WTA players in history had played more singles main draws at the Grand Slams before breaking through to a quarterfinal— Tamarine Tanasugarn (45, 2008 Wimbledon), Silvia Farina Elia (44, 2003 Wimbledon) and Elena Vesnina (42, 2016 Wimbledon) and Julia Goerges (41, 2018 Wimbledon).

Hsieh, who is known for her craftiness and her unique ability to defuse the game’s hardest-hitting players with an array of bunts, angles, decoys and deceptions, is a cherished quantity on the WTA Tour and amongst fans who enjoy her bubbly personality, her deft sense of touch, and the way she can drive her opponents mad with the her uncanny ability to casually place the ball in impossible spots on the court.

Osaka will be the prohibitive favorite when the pair meet on Tuesday in Australia, but don’t count out Hsieh. She owns eight career Top-10 wins, and four at the Slams including an upset of then World No.1 Simona Halep in the third round at Wimbledon in 2018. On her last trip to the second week at the Australian Open (she has made three now) she defeated then World No.3 Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round.

"I not worry about it," Hsieh said of facing the No.3-seeded three-time major champion. "She probably going to smash me on the court. I try to play my game, do my job, see what happens."

Clearly Hsieh is also a master in the press room as well.

Here's more proof: after her win on Sunday she was asked a question about how she was able to break through and went into a long story about how she first learned to beat Top 10 players at Roland Garros. Hsieh said that her boyfriend's parents came to watch her in Paris and they looked like they were falling asleep at her match. She she decided she needed to put on a show for them.

"I was dating my boyfriend, it was first year or second year, I forget which year, but his parents was first time coming to watch my match," she said (referring to her first career Top 10 win, which came against Johanna Konta at Roland Garros in the first round in 2017. "Then the first day I was losing very bad. So I see the parent, I think they look like they're going to fall asleep. I think I play really bad. I tell myself, Okay, now I don't care what happen, I will try to catch every ball, try to make it look little bit better. At least I want to see them a little bit awake. That's the way I get back, win the set and win the match. After that, I start winning some top-10 players."

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