Dubai: Reigning Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber was left reeling after unseeded Hsieh Su-wei registered a 7-5, 4-6, 0-6 win in the last 16 to reach the quarters in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships here, Wednesday.
The German rallied from 2-4 down to draw level at 4-4 in the second set but Hsieh won eight of the last 10 points to send the match to a decider.
World No.31 Hsieh blitzed into the last eight, converting three break points to send Kerber packing and recording her first win over her in three attempts.
The 33-year-old Taiwanese will battle Karolina Pliskova in the quarters for a place in her second semi-final of the season since the opening week of 2019 at the Auckland Classic.
“How did I win? I try very hard,” Hsieh said after recording her first win over a top 10 opponent since beating Simona Halep at last year’s Wimbledon.
“The first two sets, we both try super hard, so it was very close. Final set, I did little bit more. I feel more relaxed in the final set, so I gained the match pretty well.”
Agencies
