Hseih Su-wei from Taiwan has become the second-oldest woman to seal a Grand Slam doubles title. She teamed up with Elise Mertens of Belgium to clinch the Australian Open women's doubles championship in Melbourne on January 28.
The duo, seeded second, defeated the 11th-seeded pair of Jelena Ostapenko from Latvia and Lyudmyla Kichenok from Ukraine 6-1, 7-5 in Sunday's final. This victory marks Hseih's seventh Grand Slam women's doubles title and Mertens' fourth, their second together.
Hsieh's achievement follows Rohan Bopanna of India, who became the oldest men's champion by winning the men's doubles title the day before alongside Matthew Ebden of Australia.
American Lisa Raymond was eight days older than Hseih when she claimed the 2011 US Open women's doubles title. Martina Navratilova achieved the feat of winning the mixed doubles at the 2006 U.S. Open with Bob Bryan at the age of 49.
Hseih benefits from being coached by Australian Paul McNamee, a six-time Grand Slam doubles champion, including two Australian Opens. McNamee served as the Australian Open chief executive until 2006. Additionally, Hseih triumphed in the mixed doubles event at the current tournament alongside Jan Zielinski of Poland.
Mertens, who previously won the Wimbledon title with Hseih in 2021, also clinched the Australian Open title in the same year with Aryna Sabalenka. Sabalenka secured her second consecutive singles title in Melbourne on January 27. Furthermore, Mertens claimed the U.S. Open women's doubles title in 2019.
Mertens is set to reclaim the No. 1 spot in the WTA doubles ranking, a position she previously held in May 2021, having spent a total of 28 weeks at the top.
Hseih and Mertens showcased their formidable Grand Slam records in just 1 hour and 33 minutes on Rod Laver Arena on January 28. They swiftly secured the first set in a little over half an hour. Although the second set proved tighter, with Mertens losing her serve in the opening game, she rallied to serve for the championship at 5-3 before being broken again.
Ultimately, Hseih and Mertens sealed the victory by breaking Kichenok in the 12th game. While Mertens jubilantly leapt into the air, Hseih remained more composed.
Together, they form a powerful duo, with Mertens boasting a stronger serve and Hseih showcasing skillful touches around the net and delivering flat, potent ground strokes.
"It was a tough final," Mertens said.
"The second set was really close.
"It was a really great match for us and we had to stay focused all the time." Ostapenko and Kichenok faced a tough road to the final, beating the US Open champions Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe 7-5 7-5 in the semifinals.
In the first set, they struggled with communication and teamwork but showed improvement in the second set, where Ostapenko's serve was reliable. Kichenok faced challenges with her serve, losing it in the fourth, eighth, and final games.
Kichenok concluded her remarks at the presentation ceremony with the phrase ‘Slava Ukraini’, which translates to ‘Glory to Ukraine’.
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