Su-Wei Hsieh capsizes Jie Zheng in the opening round – Pattaya Open 2012
PTT Pattaya Open’s major upset was witnessed during the first round encounter when the 159th ranked Taiwanese contestant, Su-Wei Hsieh, crushed the fifth seed inform competitor, Jie Zheng, in straight
sets 6-3, 6-2 on Tuesday.
No one expected such a result especially considering the prolific form of 35thranked Chinese, Zheng. She was one of the strongest contenders for the title but now she is out of the competition, courtesy to some
splendid display of tennis from Hsieh.
Zheng won the season-opener title, ASB Classic, in Auckland by defeating the fourth seed Flavia Pennetta in the final. She was cruising in the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open; ousting the superior
ranked Roberta Vinci and Marion Bartoli in the second and third round respectively. She just defeated Hsieh in the round one tie of the Federation Cup on 2nd February but couldn’t repeat the heroics on this occasion.
Hsieh was also enjoying a good run of form but the loss in the Federation Cup must be running in her mind. It seemed like she was not psychologically pressurized by her earlier loss, instead, fuming in with confidence and
passion to take her revenge. She was entirely a different player especially her forehand down the line winners were meeting the sweet spot of the racquet unlike her Fed Cup’s display.
She started off the proceedings in stylish fashion; winning the first serve game and doubling the lead with a successful breakthrough. Although the fifth seed Chinese broke serve in the third game but failed to capitalize
on the opportunity and couldn’t hold serve in the following serve. The Taiwanese contestant cruised with a 4-1 lead by the end of the fifth game.
Both players traded break points in the following two games. Hsieh continued to impress everyone with her ability to sustain the lead at the most crucial stages of the match. She battled hard and was rewarded with the first
set triumph. Zheng was frustrated at her performance and shook her head in despair at several occasions.
The Taiwanese contestant carried the momentum into the second set and flabbergasted everyone by bagging first four games in quick succession. She broke serve twice and clearly looked the more deserving player to win the contest.
No more breakpoints were witnessed in the match and the fifth seed Chinese was shown the way towards exits by Hsieh who progresses to round two.
She will lock horns with the Japanese starlet, Kimiko Date-Krumm in the next round.
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