After her successful run to the fourth round of the US Open, Laura Robson continued to make her mark, as she had expected from the Asian tournaments which suit her game, and became the first British woman in 22 years to reach a WTA final (a period longer than Robson’s lifetime), but in the title match at the Guangzhou Open, the 18-year-old fell short to Hsieh Su-Wei 6-3 5-7 6-4.
Robson was expecting a big opponnent in the 26-year-old Hsieh, who had beaten her in their only previous meeting and whose shots she finds hard to read. In the final, it looked like the Brit would lose in straight sets, but she saved five match points and even went 3-0 up in the third set, before losing to the Chinese Taipei’s player.
Hsieh has won her second WTA career title. Also, it’s her second title of the season, after Kuala Lumpur. Before beating Robson, Hsieh took out Nina Bratchikova in the first round, Chang Kai-Chen in the second, Mathilde Johansson in the quarterfinals and fourth seed Urszula Radwanska in the semis.
Despite failing to clinch her maiden WTA title, Robson can be satisfied with how she built on her US Open success. This week she recorded notable victories over second seed Zheng Jie, seventh seed Peng Shuai and third seed Sorana Cirstea. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)
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What a run, both of them. Sophie’s choice, but I’m awfully glad for Sue-wei. (‘Awfully’ might be an understatement, though.)