Rain was constantly messing up the schedule of the BMW Malaysian Open, including the final matches of the tournament, when Petra Martic was forced to play both her semifinal and final in one day. The Croatian had no energy to complete the title match and Hsieh Su-Wei from Chinese Taipei won her first WTA title when her opponent retired in the third set, at 2-6 7-5 4-1.
Not only that Martic played two matches in one day, but her semifinal against second seed Jelena Jankovic lasted more than three hours and finished with the score 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6(5), with Martic saving a match point on the way. In addition, the final against the unseeded Hsieh was taken to the third set as well, and Martic retired after an hour and 45 minutes. It was Martic who won the first set 6-2 and led 4-2 in the second, before tiredness took its toll.
En route to the Kuala Lumpur title, Hsieh defeated Anne Keothavong in the first round, Casey Dellacqua in the second, then had a walkover when top seed Agnieszka Radwanska withdrew, then beat Eleni Daniilidou and in the end Petra Martic succumbed to exhaustion.
The Malaysian Open final was the first WTA title match for both Martic and Hsieh. The 26-year-old Hsieh, ranked 123rd, had only two semifinals before this one, one more than ten years ago, in 2001, and one recently at Pattaya. However, in doubles she won eight WTA titles and was ranked as high as No.9. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)
Marija, nice that you (as the only one reporting on the final, as far as I know) said a few words about Hsieh Su-Wei, the, all things considered, *deserving* Malaysian Open champion! It would, of course, have been much better if the whole tournament hadn’t been plagued by endless rain and countless postponements – but, the plague was on everyone and she, a qualifier, was, with all of her 57 kg, the last one standing! It is always fascinating watching her compensate her relatively slight physical constitution by an absolute, stoic mental calm in every and any situation, and by an idiosyncratic game able to confuse even the toughest of opponents. Dark little jewel.
Tulp, thanks for the support. The tournament was really washed out, you could barely get the grip of the schedule. The rain was affecting everyone, but not everyone the same, though. Hsieh didn’t play two matches in a day like Martic. And she didn’t have to play Radwanska in the quarters, which again gave her more rest. I’m not trying to diminish her victory, I’m just looking at the circumstances.
The WTA Tour reported about it first. It would’ve been unforgivable if they hadn’t mentioned it on their website.
I watched the Martic/Jankovic match. I had never watched Martic before. I had never heard of her before. She played great and deserved to be in the final. I DVR’d the final because I wanted to see her play again. In the final, it was obvious that Martic was the better player (until she was exhausted and cramping). I have nothing against Hsieh (I had never heard of her either). I believe they should have postponed the match to the next day. Martic would have won. Martic deserved to win. The winner should be based on effort, not luck. It was a very unfair situation. She’ll get another chance though…