Wimbledon 2019: Karolina Pliskova made to work in three-set victory over Hsieh Su-wei

The Czech, one of the few big names left in the women’s singles, was pushed all the way by the 33-year-old Taiwanese, eventually winning 6-3 2-6 6-4

Samuel Lovett
Wimbledon
Friday 05 July 2019 14:56 BST
Comments
Wimbledon Championships in numbers

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Karolina Pliskova was taken the distance in her hard-fought, third-round victory over Hsieh Su-wei at the Wimbledon Championships.

The Czech, one of the few big names left in the women’s singles, was pushed all the way by the 33-year-old Taiwanese, eventually winning 6-3 2-6 6-4.

After cruising to victory in the opening set, Pliskova was stopped in her tracks by the world No 29 who rallied to claim the second set in 36 minutes.

But Pliskova, the world No 4, recovered her nerve to bounce back in the third and final set, serving to love to book her place in the fourth round of the Championships.

Up next for Pliskova is 20th seed Anett Kontaveit or her Czech compatriot Karolina Muchova.

Pliskova, the third seed, made full use of her mighty serve, firing 14 aces on Court One to counter Hsieh's fast feet and soft hands and prevail in one hour and 46 minutes.

Both players started the opening set strongly before an unusually untidy game by world No 16 Hsieh allowed Pliskova to claim a break for a 5-3 lead.

That was the opening the 27-year-old needed as she switched gears and closed out the set with her sixth ace.

Hsieh responded with an early break in the second set to race 4-2 ahead and the 33-year-old saved four break points in the seventh game before taking the match into a decider.

Pliskova, who beat last year's Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber in the Eastbourne final last week, put Hsieh on the back foot with searing groundstrokes early in the third set to break for a 3-1 lead.

Appearing less rattled by Hsieh's variations as the match wore on, Pliskova staved off a late comeback attempt by the Taiwanese to close out victory.

Additional reporting by agencies

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in