Wang Xinyu (L)/Hsieh Su-Wei celebrate during the women's doubles semifinals between Wang Xinyu of China/Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States/Ellen Perez of Australia at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, June 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
PARIS, June 9 (Xinhua) -- China's Wang Xinyu and Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei secured their berth in the French Open women's doubles final on Friday, beating No. 6 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Playing in their second event as a pair, Wang and Hsieh will face Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend in the title showdown on Sunday.
"We're in the final? Yes. That's amazing," Hsieh joked at the post-match press conference.
"I didn't expect we would reach this stage. We just wanted to go to the court and we said to each other just have fun and enjoy the game, and then we are here," Wang said.
21-year-old Wang is going to make her debut on the final stage of a Grand Slam tournament, while Hsieh is already a four-time Grand Slam doubles champion, three from Wimbledon (2013, 2019, 2021) and one from the clay-court major (2014).
The pair went into the semifinal on the Simonne-Mathieu court strongly, breaking their opponents' serve in the first game to get an upper hand, before riding on another break in the seventh game to seal the first set 6-2.
Melichar-Martinez and Perez put on their fightback in the second set, flying away after a break in the sixth game to lead 4-2 and stay on course to finalize the set 6-3.
But Wang and Hsieh proved to be more clinical in the decider, surging to a 3-0 lead with a break in the second game, during which they squandered two break points before converting the third one.
Melichar-Martinez and Perez showed their resilience in the ninth game when Wang/Hsieh were serving for the match, saving three match points before finally giving in at the fourth.
"We didn't feel nervous even if we missed match points for a couple of times, just to play the next point, that's all fine," Hsieh said.
The 37-year-old veteran met Wang in the Italian Open last month when they negotiated to compete in the doubles event together. Their first event was the Strasbourg Open just one week before Roland Garros.
Earlier on Friday, No. 10 seeds Fernandez and Townsend claimed a smooth 6-0, 6-4 victory over last year's runners-up, American duo Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula to reach their first Grand Slam final together. ■
Nicole Melichar-Martinez/Ellen Perez (R) compete during the women's doubles semifinals between Wang Xinyu of China/Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States/Ellen Perez of Australia at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, June 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
Wang Xinyu (R)/Hsieh Su-Wei compete during the women's doubles semifinals between Wang Xinyu of China/Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States/Ellen Perez of Australia at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, June 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
Wang Xinyu (R)/Hsieh Su-Wei compete during the women's doubles semifinals between Wang Xinyu of China/Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States/Ellen Perez of Australia at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, June 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
Wang Xinyu (Above)/Hsieh Su-Wei compete during the women's doubles semifinals between Wang Xinyu of China/Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States/Ellen Perez of Australia at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, June 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
Wang Xinyu (L)/Hsieh Su-Wei celebrate after winning the women's doubles semifinals between Wang Xinyu of China/Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States/Ellen Perez of Australia at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, June 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
