PARIS -- Hsieh Su-Wei and Wang Xinyu rallied from a set down to defeat No.10 Taylor Townsend and Leylah Fernandez 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 to win the women's doubles title at Roland Garros.
Playing in just their second tournament after teaming up in Strasbourg, Hsieh and Wang capped off a stunning fortnight that saw them upset five seeded teams to win their first doubles title of the season.
Along with their win over No.10 seeds Townsend/Fernandez in the final, unseeded duo defeated No.5 seeds Schuurs/Krawcyzk, No.6 seeds Melichar-Martinez/Perez, No.9 seeds Zhang/Mladenovic and No.15 seeds Kudermetova/Samsonova.
The title cements a remarkable comeback to competition for Hsieh, who had not played a Grand Slam since 2021 due to injury. Playing in her 60th Grand Slam doubles main draw, Hsieh, 37, has now won five Grand Slam titles, including three at Wimbledon (2013, 2019, 2021), and two at Roland Garros (2014). Roland Garros is her 31st doubles title.
Hsieh Su-Wei's comeback: From nurturing plants to conquering the court
Welcome back to the big stage Hsieh Su-Wei 🧡🧡🧡#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/GM75qbd01B
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 11, 2023
"It's very special because I was not expecting to play and don't know who I play with, because at this time on the clay court season, it's middle of the year or something like this," Hsieh said. "It's hard to find a partner.
"I just talking with Saisai [Zheng] and then I got a partner like this (snapping fingers) and then we were trying to fix again and play together and have fun."
In contrast, 21-year-old Wang was making her Roland Garros doubles debut, having previously played in two Grand Slam doubles draws. Roland Garros is the third doubles title of her career, having previously won 2021 Courmayeur and 2019 Nanchang.
A relatively new team on the Hologic WTA Tour, Townsend and Fernandez have enjoyed immediate success since pairing up in Indian Wells. With their dual-lefty set-up and team chemistry, the team made their first final earlier this spring in Miami and followed up with a semifinal run in Madrid. En route to the final in Paris, Townsend and Fernandez defeated No.8 seeds Dabrowski and Stefani in the second round, before avenging their Miami loss to No.2 seeds Gauff and Pegula in the semifinals.
💕 Team Bubblegum Babes 💕
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 11, 2023
Congratulations on an amazing run!#RolandGarros | @taylortownsend @leylahfernandez pic.twitter.com/YosnNTfMCX
After dominating the opening set with their aggressive play, Townsend and Fernandez quickly found themselves down a break early in the second set. Hsieh and Wang protected their lead to build a 5-3 lead and had triple set point on Townsend's serve at 5-3. Down 0-40, Townsend and Fernandez roared back to hold and then broke Wang in the next game to level the set at 5-5.
"Sometimes you lose first set, but second set, if you stay there, it's all the opportunities and then they will come," Hsieh said. "You just need to keep trying. It was keep trying, we do some cool shot, and then we cheering each other.
"For me, I just keep trying, stay calm, I was very peaceful. I was telling her, It's okay. The worst thing is we just take the trophy with a plate."
But Hsieh and Wang rallied from falling behind an early mini-break to edge Fernandez and Townsend 7-5 in the tiebreak. The eventual champions took that momentum into the third set. They broke Fernandez early to build a 3-0 lead.
The pivotal game came with Wang serving at 3-1. In the longest game of the match, Wang dug out of a 15-40 hole to save four break points and hold in an 18-point game. Hsieh and Wang broke Fernandez again to build a 5-1 lead and Hsieh closed out the win one game later.
What a team 🤗
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 11, 2023
Hope to see you in Paris again in 2024!#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/te3kLabyEO