Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei (???) and her partner Elise Mertens of Belgium fell just short at the WTA Finals in Mexico Wednesday, after losing the doubles championship match 3-6, 4-6 to top-seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic.
Third-seeds Hsieh and Mertens fell to the unbeaten Czech duo in 1 hour and 18 minutes on the hard courts of the Akron Tennis Stadium in Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico.
In her partner’s speech after the match, Mertens thanked Hsieh for their great results this year.
“And everybody who made this possible, I mean it means a lot to the players that we’re here,” Mertens said. “So, I’m very happy that we could perform with such an amazing crowd and hopefully we will be back in Mexico.”
Hsieh, the Wimbledon and Indian Wells champions, struggled against Siniakova’s energetic play from the net, which saw her follow the track of the ball all the way until the end of the point.
Continuing their clinical display, the Czechs never looked back, and Siniakova delivered a flying smash into the stands to seal the opening set in style.
Hsieh fired back with superb placement in the second set, scoring crucial points, only to have the deficit widened again by Siniakova’s lightning quick net play and ability to drop the hammer when finding an open gap.
Fans were on the edge of their seats toward the end of the match when Hsieh saved the first championship point 4-5 just before the break.
However, Siniakova’s drop volley forced an error off Hsieh’s backhand to allow the No. 1 seeds to seal the win.
The Taiwanese and Belgian duo saved seven of the 10 break points they faced, but it was the Czechs who were dominant in returning second serves, winning 65 percent of those points during the clash, which helped them convert three of the 10 break points they held.
The victory also fulfilled Siniakova’s chase to end the season top of the rankings, and she will now leapfrog Hsieh into top spot in the world rankings when they are next released.
The win is another milestone for the Czech duo after they first secured a place at the WTA Finals in 2018, where they finished as runner-up.
Krecjikova and Siniakova capped off a sensational season by capturing their fifth title of the year.
The pair also won gold at the Tokyo Olympics, the women’s doubles title at the WTA 1000 Madrid Open, and their third Grand Slam at Roland Garros in Paris.
Meanwhile, Hsieh and Mertens also delivered remarkable results at the WTA Finals, opening play in the El Tajín group on day two by saving set points in the first frame to bounce back and defeat sixth seeds Alexa Guarachi of Chile and Desirae Krawczyk of the United States 7-6 (3), 6-2, before falling to Krejcikova and Siniakova 3-6, 1-6 on day four.
The Taiwanese and Belgian duo shot back on the sixth day of the round robin tournament to beat Canadian Sharon Fichman and Mexican Giuliana Olmos in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (3).
This booked them a place in the semifinals, where Hsieh and Mertens dismissed Japanese duo Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara for the third time this season.
Hsieh and Mertens also defeated the Japanese duo 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the Wimbledon semifinals and 6-2, 6-0 in the Indian Wells semifinals.
It was Hsieh’s fourth appearance at the WTA’s end-of-season showcase, following her 2013 tournament victory with partner Peng Shuai (??) of China.
The pair followed up the win with another appearance in the championship match at the 2014 tournament, where their title defense was ended by a 1-6, 0-6 loss to Cara Black and Sania Mirza.
Hsieh’s appearance in the 2019 tournament resulted in a third run to the final with partner Barbora Strýcová, where they lost 6-1, 6-3 to Tímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic.
The 2021 WTA Finals features the eight best singles players and eight best doubles pairs on the Porsche Race to the WTA Finals leaderboard, which covers 51 WTA tournaments and four Grand Slams over the season.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel