Su-Wei Hsieh saves match point to stun the world number one Simona Halep 3-6 6-4 7-5 to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon. The result means that only Karolina Pliskova remains of the top 10 seeds in the women’s draw.
The opening four games were tense as both players couldn’t find their rhythm on serve as the first percentage was decreasing for both Halep and Hsieh. However the Romanian began to find her big forehands and deal with the slices that Hsieh produced from difficult angles. A break of serve in the fifth game was enough to give Halep confidence as a lot of tough service holds took place for the rest of the set. Despite Hsieh creating some break point opportunities, the world number one eventually held on to take a crucial first set in 42 minutes.
The 32 year old from Taipei wasn’t going to give up her dreams of reaching the second week of a grand slam for the second time this year as she secured the early break. Despite the Romanian’s break of serve in the sixth game, Hsieh used her insane craft to frustrate the world number one as she secured her second break of the set to take the crucial advantage. The world number 48 served the set out to love to force a deciding set in front of a loud court one crowd.
The final set saw more brutal from Halep as she continued to chase down the incredible slices that was coming from the other end of the net. After a long fourth game, the Romanian broke for second time in the set to take a commanding 3-1 lead. The match was looking very comfortable for Halep as she seemed to have neutralised the tricky Hsieh game.
However the doubles specialist found a new leash of life on the pressure points and broke the Romanian when she was serving for the match. The more the crowd roared, the more confidence Hsieh had as in her next service game, she managed to save match point and hold in an epic game.
The Romanian was looking exhausted and when broken for the second consecutive time looked de-spirited. The world number one wasted two more break points as her time in the championships headed to a conclusion. The world number 48 sealed the match with her first match point to send the world number one out of Wimbledon.
The result means only Karolina Pliskova remains from the top 10 seeds in the women’s draw as the top half of the draw opens up massively. The win is arguably the biggest of Hsieh’s career, who’s crafty play is becoming very popular and successful on the singles circuit. She will now play Dominika Cibulkova in the fourth round on Monday after 6-2 6-2 victory over Elise Mertens.
