Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) clinched her career first Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) singles title at the Malaysian Open yesterday, while compatriots Chuang Chia-jung (莊佳容) and Chang Kai-chen (張凱貞) brought home the doubles title.
Hsieh became the first Asian winner of the Malaysian Open when her opponent Petra Martic of Croatia retired with exhaustion after playing both her semi-final and final matches on the same day.
The unseeded Hsieh beat the fifth-seeded Croatian 2-6, 7-5, 4-1.
Earlier yesterday, Martic beat second-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) in a semi-final lasting more than three hours. Rain triggered a suspension of play on Saturday at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort.
Martic had only a few hours to rest before facing Hsieh, ranked No. 123 in the world.
Both were playing in their first WTA final.
While the win was Hsieh’s first WTA singles title, she has won eight WTA doubles titles
The 21-year-old Martic won the first set and led the second 4-2, before she began to significantly tire. She lost the set after appearing to have leg cramps.
Hsieh, 26, led 4-1 in the third set before Martic retired after 1 hour, 45 minutes.
Earlier yesterday, the duo of Chuang and Chang beat Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching (詹皓晴) and Japanese Rika Fujiwara in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 in just 90 minutes.
The tournament has been plagued by rain delays and injuries all week. Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland withdrew on Friday with an elbow injury.
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