Elise Mertens and Su-Wei Hsieh qualified for the women’s doubles final at the British Open tennis on Friday at Wimbledon.
Elise Mertens and Su-Wei Hsieh will challenge Russians Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Vesnina in the final, who saved three match points before turning the tide in the other half.
The Belgian, 8th in the world in doubles but guaranteed to regain first place at the end of the tournament, and the Taiwanese, 5th in the world in the discipline, won 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 after 1h43 against the Japanese Shuko Aoyama (WTA 13 doubles) and Ena Shibahara (WTA 13 doubles), seeded N.5.
A break point was enough in the first set, converted by the Belgian-Taiwanese pair, to take the lead in this first half of the table. But Mertens and Hsieh let their guard down in the second set, conceded 1-6 after two breaks.
Regaining their efficiency in service, Mertens and Hsieh lined up three games in a row to lead 4-1 in the deciding set. Continuing their momentum, they did not falter at the end of the game. Efficient and applied in important points, the Limburgoise nonetheless showed some signs of feverishness when it came time to conclude. She had to rule out five break points before concluding the game with an ace on her third match point. She will play her third final in a Major.
Mertens and Hsieh will need to rule out Veronika Kudermetova (WTA 24 doubles) and Elena Vesnina (WTA 139) to win their first title together. The Russians emerged from an incredible game against American Caroline Dolehide and Australian Storm Sanders, saving three match points before winning 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-5 after 2h29 of play.
Elise Mertens has won two doubles Grand Slam tournaments: the 2019 US Open and the Australian Open this year, each time with Aryna Sabalenka. The Belarusian having decided to focus on her career in singles, the Belgian number one subsequently teamed up with Su-Wei Hsieh, with whom she reached the round of 16 at Roland Garros this year.
Hsieh is the title holder in the women’s doubles at Wimbledon. She won on London turf in 2019 with Czech Barbora Strycova. Hsieh and Strycova had eliminated Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals that year. The tournament was canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 35-year-old Taiwanese won two other Grand Slam doubles titles, along with China’s Shuai Peng: Wimbledon in 2013 and Roland-Garros in 2014.
Vesnina, 34, is a doubles specialist. Former world No. 1, she has 19 titles and 25 finals lost on the circuit, including three Grand Slam victories, all acquired with her compatriot Ekaterina Makarova: Roland-Garros 2013, US Open 2014 and Wimbledon 2017. For her part, Veronika Kudermetova, 24, has 6 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, including one acquired with Mertens in Istanbul this season, but has never made a Major final.
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