Taiwan veteran Hsieh Su-wei made history by reaching her maiden Grand Slam quarter-final after 16 years of trying, the 35-year-old becoming the oldest player to make the final eight for the first time during the Open Era.
In her 10th Australian Open, and her 38th Grand Slam main draw, Hsieh demolished an injury-hampered 19th seed Marketa Vondrousova 6-4 6-2 in 68 minutes.
The popular Hsieh, one of the most unorthodox players in the women’s game, is a three-time Grand Slam champion in doubles (where she is world No. 1), but is a lowly-ranked 71st in singles.
Her incredible run this tournament saw her first beat former Wimbledon semi-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova, then world no. 8 and US Open winner Bianca Andreescu apart in the second round. Then she knocked off former French Open finalist Sara Errani in a tough third round clash.
On Sunday, Hsieh bamboozled Czech star Vondrousova to roar out to a 5-2 lead in their Margaret Court Arena clash. 2019 French Open finalist Vondrousova fought back to 5-4, before Taiwanese Hsieh served out the set to love.
Hsieh battled through a marathon first game to open the second set but managed to claim the break at the third attempt, and never look back.
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