Su-Wei Hsieh: Green Thumb on Red Ash
Su-Wei Hsieh made her comeback in doubles in Madrid - alongside Barbora Strycova. But why was the Taiwanese woman gone for so long anyway?
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
May 01, 2023, 09:44 pm
Things could hardly have gone better for Hsieh and Strycova so far: The two Wimbledon winners (2019) made it straight into the quarter-finals of the comeback tournament, on Wednesday there will be a game worth seeing against Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend.
While Strycova had her first child the year before last and as a result her career actually ended (she now plays a few more tournaments, the last one is supposed to be the US Open), Hsieh: was simply gone. She took the WTA Finals with her in 2021 and reached the final alongside Elise Mertens, and then...?
"I was at home, cut my flowers, put my plants in order," she replied to the same question in Madrid . "It was a very relaxing time at home."
The more serious background: you wanted to recover from an old injury from 2019, but there was no time for that before. "I wanted to rest a bit because I also wanted to play singles again."
But she didn't really miss anything, according to Hsieh, they bought a big TV, so they followed all the players in the highest resolution.
Hsieh: "Look young, but I'm not anymore"
She didn't wait for Strycova to make her comeback. But her boyfriend and coach Frederic Aniere took another job and couldn't travel with her; her brother, who had also acted as her coach, had another child. And traveling alone is not an option, it is impossible to get back to the highest level, says Hsieh.
But she is still planning her individual comeback, she wants to start slowly ("I look young, but I'm not anymore"), says the 37-year-old with the very special game . With whom she has already driven Garbine Muguruza, Johanna Konta, Bianca Andreescu, Aryna Sabalenka, Naomi Osaka, Karolina Pliskova, Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep to despair.
How and where will she play? Also depends on where she comes into the field with her protected ranking - at the end of 2021 she was in 106th place. And: where she will receive wildcards.
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