Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic won the women’s doubles title at the Dubai Tennis Championships Feb. 23 in the United Arab Emirates.
The duo defeated Ekaterina Makarova of Russia and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4 in the 81-minute final to take home prize money of US$148,845. It is their first title of the season and second overall after victory at the Indian Wells Masters in the U.S. last year.
Hsieh and Strycova roared out of the blocks in an entertaining contest, winning the first three games. The No. 7 seeds Makarova and Hradecka fought back to tie up the match 4-4, but dropped serve in the crucial 10th game to surrender the first set to the Taiwan-Czech duo.
The second set followed a similar pattern, with Hsieh and Strycova powering ahead before being pegged back to 4-4 by their resilient opponents. Again the 10th game proved decisive as the third seeds broke serve to capture the title and finish the tournament without dropping a set.
Speaking after the match, Hsieh said that she and Strycova managed to bounce back from a disappointing exit in the round of 16 at the Qatar Open earlier in month by focusing on the positives and having fun together on the court. They have an excellent partnership and are working hard to improve, she added.
Lauding Hsieh’s magic hands, Strycova said the Taiwan star has outstanding court positioning. “You can see big hitters having problems playing against her as she is everywhere.”
Hsieh, 33, is formerly the world’s top-ranked women’s doubles player, winning the doubles titles at Wimbledon in 2013 and the French Open in 2014. She also captured singles crowns at the Malaysia Open and Guangzhou Open in 2012 and Japan Women’s Open in 2018.
Next up for the Taiwan veteran will be two U.S. tournaments: the Indian Wells Masters March 4-17 and the Miami Open March 18-31. (CPY-E)
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