TENNIS/Hsieh Su-wei reaches Australian Open women's doubles semifinal

Taipei, Jan. 21 (CNA) Reigning Australian Open women's doubles champion Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) moved closer to defending her title in Melbourne on Tuesday after a hard-fought three-set match.

Hsieh and Jeļena Ostapenko of Latvia edged past Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine and Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in a two-hour, 20-minute battle to secure a semifinal spot at the hardcourt tournament.

The Taiwan-Latvia No. 3 seeded pairing next face No. 2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand as Hsieh seeks her 10th Grand Slam title.

Now 39, Hsieh has won seven Grand Slam women's doubles titles, including two at the French Open and four at Wimbledon.

In addition, she captured mixed doubles titles at the 2024 Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Whereas in women's doubles Hsieh changed partners from Belgium's Elise Mertens to Ostapenko this year, she paired with Jan Zieliński of Poland in mixed doubles for a second consecutive year. However, the pair were eliminated in the second round on Monday.

Hsieh has yet to win the US Open in any category, with her best result being semifinal losses in women's singles in 2012 and 2023, and mixed doubles in 2009.