Indian Wells: ‘Dinosaur’ Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens beat Coco Gauff and Leylah Fernandez for semi-final spot
- Taiwanese veteran puts on dinosaur hat for physio’s birthday to celebrate straight-sets win over teenagers for place in final four
- Hsieh and Mertens join Shuka Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan, and Czech duo Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, in semis
Veteran Hsieh Su-wei may have worn a dinosaur hat for her post-match interview but the 35-year-old proved she was more than a match for teen duo Coco Gauff and Leylah Fernandez at Indian Wells.
Taiwan’s Hsieh and her Belgian partner Elise Mertens moved on to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday, seeing off the up-and-comers 7-5, 6-4.
The No 2 seeds were forced to work in the first set as the teenagers dragged the score back to 5-5, but the experienced Hsieh, 35, and Mertens, 25, dug deep to take it.
American Gauff, 17, and the 19-year-old US Open singles finalist Fernandez had not dropped a set in their two matches to reach the quarter-finals, but they found themselves out of the tournament after another tight set went the way of Hsieh and Mertens.
Hsieh then put on the bright green dinosaur hat for her on-court interview at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and explained it was a birthday wish from a physio.
“This is from the physio room and they were helping us for the whole year, they are working so hard and gave me this yesterday,” she said. “The girl was wearing this, it was her birthday, so she requested and I think ‘OK, I’ll do it.’”
Hsieh and Mertens to face Gauff and Fernandez in quarters
Hsieh and Mertens move on to the semi-finals as they look to secure a place at the WTA Finals next month in Guadalajara, with the annual season-ending tournament moved from Shenzhen because of pandemic restrictions.
The pair are ranked fifth on the Race to WTA Finals standings, a place behind US Open champions Zhang Shuai of China and Australia’s Samantha Stosur, with the top eight singles players and doubles partnerships qualifying.
Zhang and Stosur did not play together at Indian Wells, allowing Hsieh and Mertens to make up ground – and reduce the 19-point deficit – by reaching the last four in California.
They join Shuka Aoyama and Ena Shibahara in the Indian Wells doubles semis after the Japanese duo beat fellow Japanese player Makito Ninomiya and Sabrina Santamaria of the US in straight sets.
The No 3 seeds have already qualified for this year’s WTA Finals, as have the Indian Wells top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.
The Czech duo will join them in the final four in California, along with Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko.
Fernandez’s doubles defeat ended her time at Indian Wells. The Canadian No 23 seed went out to Shelby Rogers of the US in the singles earlier in the day.
