Number 27 Su-Wei Hsieh edged former number 1 player Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 6-7 (0-7) 6-2 after 2 hours and 13 minutes to reach her first quarter final at WTA Premier Mandatory level.
Wozniacki broke twice, but she dropped her serve six times. Hsieh got an early break in the third game of the opening set, but Wozniaki broke straight back at deuce and held her serve for 3-2. Hsieh came back from 2-3 down by winning four consecutive games with two breaks in the seventh and ninth games to clinch the first set 6-3.
Wozniacki earned an immediate break in the first game of the second set, but Hsieh broke back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Both players held on their next service games setting up a tie-break. Wozniacki won all seven points to cruise through to a 7-0 win in the tie-break. Hsieh bounced back in the third set dropping just four points on serve and earned two breaks in the first and third games to cruise through to winning the first set 6-1.
“In the third set I was very fresh. I don’t know why. I felt my leg. It was live, it was feeling so fresh”, said Su-Wei Hsieh.
Hsieh secured her spot in the quarter final, where she will face her former practice partner Anett Kontaveit.
“Anett is a very lovely nice girl. She hit the ball differently than other girls, more like Naomi Osaka, because they are very aggressive.
Kontaveit was leading 6-1 2-0, as fresh Indian Wells champion Bianca Andreescu was forced to retire from the match due to a right shoulder injury. The Estonian player stopped Andreescu’s ten-match winning streak.
“She played so many matches, I am sure she is fatigued. She has had a great run, and I give her a lot of respect for that”,said Kontaveit.
Andreescu, who beat Angelique Kerber for the second consecutive week and was playing for a second consecutive week, called a medical time-out after losing the first set.
“I tried to get as much treatment as I can. I thought it would be okay, but I thought it would be okay, but it just got worse as the match progressed. I have played so many matches. I guess this is just a way of my body teling me that it’s had enough. The physios and doctors said it’s nothing serious, but the pain is there, and I could not continue today. I can’t complain with what I have achieved. It’s been an incredible run, a Cinderella story. It’s a dream come true. Clay is one of my favourite surfaces. I think my game really suits that. I love sliding on the court. I slide on every court, but it’s easier on clay”,said Andreescu.
Karolina Pliskova came back from losing the first set to edge Yulia Putintseva 2-6 6-3 7-5 after 2 hours and 10 minutes reaching the Miami Open quarter final for the third consecutive year. Putintseva broke three times in a row to race out to a 5-0 lead and closed out the first set 6-2 with a hold at 15. Pliskova rallied from 1-2 by winning five of her next six games with three consecutive breaks to win the second set 6-3. Pliskova got an early break at the start of the third set, but Putintseva broke back in the sixth game. Both players held their next service games until the 11th game, when Pliskova got the decisive break at 15. The Czech player fended off a break point in the 12th game to seal the win.
“She did not give me anything for free. Playing sometimes good, maybe sometimes good, maybe sometimes too many mistakes in a row, but I think it’s always important to find a way how to win. In the last two weeks I am not playing perfect, but I am fighting and getting the victories, which is very important”,said Pliskova.
Andreescu held her service game before the match was interrupted for 90 minutes by rain.
Pliskova will face an all-Czech quarter final match against Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova, who beat Tatiana Maria 6-4 6-3 after 1 hour and 27 minutes. Vondrousova dropped her serve twice and converted five of her ten break point chances.
Vondrousova went up a double break in the first and seventh games to take a 5-2 lead. Vondrousova was broken as she was serving out for the set at 5-3, but she held at love for 6-4 in the 10th game.
Vondrousova broke three times to close out the second set 6-3 to secure her spot in the quarter final.
Qiang Wang beat Yafan Wang 7-5 6-4 after 1 hour and 45 minutes in an all-Chinese match to score her sixth match in their seven head-to-head matches. Qiang came back from 3-4 down by winning four of the next five games to clinch the first set 7-5. The two Chinese players traded breaks at the start of the second set and held their next service games until Qiang got the decisive break in the 10th game to close out the match.
