Taiwan tennis player Hsieh Su-wei competes in the mixed doubles final at the 2024 Australian Open Jan. 26 in Melbourne. (Courtesy of MOE)
 

Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Belgium’s Elise Mertens won the women’s doubles title at the Australian Open Jan. 28 in Melbourne, making Hsieh the first woman to grab both the doubles and mixed doubles titles in the same tournament since 2000, according to the Ministry of Education.

The second-seed duo defeated Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in a 93-min final. This marked the pair’s second Grand Slam title, following their previous victory at Wimbledon in 2021.

Hsieh and Mertens quickly clinched the first set, and despite their opponents’ best efforts to take the second, ultimately triumphed with two straight wins 6-1 and 7-5.

Upon hearing the good news, President Tsai Ing-wen sent a congratulatory message to Hsieh in which she lauded the pair’s outstanding performance and encouraged Hsieh to keep doing her country proud, the MOE said.

This is 38-year-old Hsieh’s eighth Grand Slam doubles title and her second in this year’s Australian Open, with the first alongside Poland’s Jan Zielinski Jan. 26. Hsieh’s performance has also set a record for Taiwan athletes in the tournament, the ministry added. (POC-E)