Hsieh and Mertens Victory
Hsieh and Mertens Victory: In Melbourne, Australia, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei and Belgium’s Elise Mertens won the women’s doubles title at the Australian Open on Sunday, defeating Latvian-Ukrainian pair Jelena 6-1, 7-5 to seal their victory. Ostapenko and Lyudmila Kichenok.
The win secured the second-seeded women’s Grand Slam doubles championship in 2021, following her victory at Wimbledon. Additionally, Hsieh became the second oldest woman in history to claim a Grand Slam doubles title, second only to Lisa Raymond.
Hsieh, aged 38, decided to retire from his singles career after a first-round loss at Melbourne Park earlier this year. However, they won their second title in Australia by winning the mixed doubles final on Friday.
Hsieh defeated Ostapenko and Kichenok to win her seventh major women’s doubles title, adding to her four wins at Wimbledon and two at Roland Garros. The victory also propelled Mertens to her fourth Grand Slam women’s doubles title.
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Hsieh and Mertens grabbed an early break in the third game, dictating the tone of the match and being in control throughout. He won the first set comfortably without facing much resistance.
The second set was tightly contested, as Ostapenko and Kichenok took early service breaks to take control. However, Hsieh and Mertens came back and broke serve to level the score at 2–2 and then went ahead once again at 5–3.
The second seeds faltered to close out the match, giving Ostapenko and Kichenok a chance to level the score at 5–5. Despite this setback, he regained his momentum two games later, earning a third break of the set and winning his first championship point.
“Great job, ladies, on an excellent match,” Mertens said. “The second set was thrilling, and we truly had to show our resilience today. Thank you very much to everyone for their support and attendance.”
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