TENNIS/Taiwan's Hsieh falls just short in bid for 10th Grand Slam title

Taipei, Jan. 26 (CNA) Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and partner Jelena Ostapenko put pressure on the top seeds in the Australian Open women's doubles final Sunday with a gritty comeback, but it was not enough to give Hsieh her 10th Grand Slam title.

Czech Katerina Siniakova and American Taylor Townsend eventually rode out the challenge from the third-seeded 39-year-old Taiwanese veteran and 27-year-old Latvian to win the title 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in just under two and a half hours.

Hsieh and Ostapenko were playing in only their second tournament together, and for much of the match, Siniakova and Townsend, themselves together for less than a year, seemed more cohesive and served more consistently on the day.

The top seeds appeared to be on their way to a much quicker triumph when Townsend served for the match up 5-4 in the second set, but Hsieh and Ostapenko converted their fourth break point in the game to pull even at 5-5.

After Hsieh and Siniakova held their service games, the set went to a tiebreaker, and a well-placed Ostapenko volley and clever service return down the line by Hsieh that flat-footed Siniakova closed it out, evening the match at a set apiece.

The Taiwanese-Latvian duo now had rare momentum, and they broke Siniakova to open the third set, giving them a higher chance of victory than their opponents for the first time in the match, according to the tournament's win predictor.

But that edge would be short-lived. The top seeds broke Ostapenko in the next game, and after Hsieh could not hold serve in the eighth game, putting Siniakova and Townsend up 5-3, the Czech served out the match.

"It's been a really great two weeks for us. We've played really well. Unfortunately we did not win the bigger trophy today, but I hope we will win the next one," Hsieh said after the match.

"Thank you to my partner Jelena. Thank you for your answer to my invitation... And thank you to the fans. It was really fun, really enjoyable with your crazy crowds," she said.

Hsieh, who has seven career women's doubles Grand Slam titles (one in Australia, two at the French Open and four at Wimbledon) and two mixed doubles titles (Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2024), was going for her 10th title overall.

She played with Elise Mertens of Belgium in 2024, with considerable success, including an Australian Open women's doubles title clinched with a win, ironically enough, against Ostapenko and her partner at the time Ukrainian Lyudmyla Kichenok.