Mon, Jun 12, 2023 page7

• Taiwan’s Hsieh wins second Paris title

  ‘SURREAL’: Poland star Iga Swiatek became the third woman in the Open era to win each of her first four Grand Slam finals, after defeating Karolina Muchova

  • Staff writer, with AFP, PARIS
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  Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and China’s Wang Xinyu yesterday won the French Open women’s doubles title with a thrilling 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 victory over US-Canadian pairing Taylor Townsend and Leylah Fernandez.

  It was 37-year-old Hsieh’s fifth Grand Slam doubles title and second in Paris after 2014, which she won with another Chinese partner, Peng Shuai.

  The unseeded Hsieh and Wang were playing only their second tournament together after teaming up at Internationaux de Strasbourg last month.

  

  Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei, right, and partner Wang Xinyu of China celebrate winning the women’s doubles final against Canada’s Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend of the US at Roland Garros in Paris yesterday.

  Photo: AP

  After losing a 30-minute first set, Hsieh and Wang staged a comeback in a brutal hour-long back-and-forth second, winning the tiebreaker in the fourth game.

  With renewed confidence and another Paris victory within her sights, Hsieh and Wang won the third set, breaking Fernandez and Townsend in the second and sixth games in 39 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

  It was Hsieh’s 60th Grand Slam doubles main draw appearance, after winning three Wimbledon doubles titles in 2013, 2019 and 2021 along with her 2014 Roland Garros, the Paris Open Web site said.

  

  China’s Wang Xinyu, left, and Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei eye the ball in their women’s doubles final against Canada’s Leylah Fernandez and the US’ Taylor Townsend at Roland Garros in Paris yesterday.

  Photo: AFP

  For Wang it was her maiden triumph at a major and just her third Grand Slam doubles appearance, the site said.

  On Saturday, Iga Swiatek battled past Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 to win her third French Open title and become the first woman to successfully defend the Roland Garros title since 2007.

  The 22-year-old Swiatek is just the third woman in the Open era to win each of her first four Grand Slam finals, the Pole adding to her 2020 and 2022 titles in Paris and last year’s US Open triumph.

  

  Poland’s Iga Swiatek raises the trophy after beating the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova to win the women’s singles final at Roland Garros in Paris on Saturday.

  Photo: AFP

  Muchova, the fourth lowest ranked women’s finalist ever in Paris, fought back from a set and 3-0 down, and twice led Swiatek by a break in the decider before her fate was sealed with a double fault on match point.

  “It’s pretty surreal, everything,” said Swiatek, the world No. 1 from Poland. “But the match was really intense, a lot of ups and downs. Stressful moments and coming back. So I’m pretty happy that at the end I could be solid in those few last games and finish it.”

  “Karolina really played well. It was a big challenge,” she added.

  Justine Henin was the last woman to win successive Roland Garros crowns when she captured her third in a row and fourth in total 16 years ago.

  Swiatek’s latest coronation caps another dominant two weeks on the clay in Paris, where her record stands at 28 wins and two losses in five visits.

  Muchova, at 43 in the world, was appearing in her first Grand Slam final, after doctors warned her last year she might never play the sport again.

  “This was so close and yet so far, that’s what happens when you play one of the best,” a tearful Muchova said. “The feeling is a little bitter, but to call myself a Grand Slam finalist is amazing.”

  The unseeded Czech came into the final having won all five matches in her career against players in the top three — four of them at Grand Slams — after stunning Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals.

  In men’s singles, Novak Djokovic was last night seeking a record 23rd Grand Slam title in his final against Casper Ruud.

  The 36-year-old Serb was looking to grab his seventh championship match at Roland Garros, in a showdown that was ongoing as of press time last night.

  “The only thing I can say is that I’m very focused. History is always something that’s hovering over me,” said Djokovic, the 2016 and 2021 winner in Paris and the oldest finalist in 93 years.

  In Croatia, Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel beat the Czech Republic’s Renata Voracova and Anna Siskova 6-3, 7-5 to win the women’s doubles title at the Makarska Open.
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