TENNIS/Hsieh reaches Australian Open mixed doubles final

Taipei, Jan. 24 (CNA) Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and Polish partner Jan Zielinski reached the Australian Open mixed doubles final on Wednesday after a straight sets semifinal win over Jaimee Fourlis and Andrew Harris.

Hsieh and Zielinski dispatched local favorites Fourlis and Harris 7-6 (10-8), 6-2 at Melbourne Park, and will face second seeds Desirae Krawczyk of the United States and Neal Skupski of the United Kingdom in Friday's final.

Having clinched victory in less than 60 minutes in all their previous matches at the tournament, Hsieh and Zielinski did not have an easy start in Wednesday's semifinal.

The first set took nearly 60 minutes and came to a tie-break, where the duo saved three set points to finally win.

In the second set, Hsieh and Zielinski broke two serves and led 5-1. The duo then missed two match points but came back to win 6-2.

Earlier on Wednesday, Hsieh reached the semifinals of the women's doubles with Belgian partner Elise Mertens.

The second-seeded Hsieh and Mertens, who won the women's doubles title at Wimbledon together in 2021, will play third seeds Storm Hunter of Australia and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic on Thursday for a place in the final.

Hsieh's previous best performance in the women's doubles in Melbourne was a second-place finish at the 2020 Australian Open with Czech partner Barbora Strycova.