Andreescu comeback halted by Hsieh at Australian Open
Hsieh Su-wei beat Bianca Andreescu 6-3, 6-2.
MELBOURNE (AFP) – Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu’s emotional comeback from a year-plus injury ended Wednesday after slumping to defeat against Hsieh Su-wei at the Australian Open.
The eighth seed was upset by the veteran Taiwanese 6-3, 6-2 in one hour 23 minutes in the second round.
"You need to find a way to get through and the crowd helped me fight," said 35-year-old Hsieh, who has twice reached the fourth round at Melbourne Park.
The Canadian was coming off a draining first-round victory, in her return after 15 months on the sidelines, where she defeated Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania in three sets and broke down afterwards in tears.
A weary Andreescu appeared sluggish, however, amid the warm conditions on Rod Laver Arena and the world number 71 pounced to storm out to a 4-0 lead.
Hsieh’s momentum continued as she broke early in the second set and clinched victory with an Andreescu double fault.
Andreescu was set to make her comeback as top seed in the warm-up Grampians Trophy, but pulled out as a precautionary measure after spending 14 days in hard lockdown after arriving in Australia.
She had not played a competitive match ahead of the Australian Open since suffering a left knee injury at the WTA Finals in October 2019, halting her rapid rise after beating Serena Williams in the final at Flushing Meadows that year.
Hsieh plays seven-time Slam winner Venus Williams or Italian qualifier Sara Errani next.
