Former champion Hsieh Su-wei made another happy return to her favourite city Kuala Lumpur, after she cruised into the second round of the BMW Malaysian Open with a convincing straight sets victory.
The 30-year-old Taiwanese, who’s the seventh seed, took just one hour and 23 minutes to oust Slovakia’s Jana Cepelova 6-4, 6-4 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club in Bukit Kiara this afternoon at the centre court.
The world No.69 Su-wei just love playing in Malaysia and it’s not hard to understand why.
It was in Kuala Lumpur that Su-wei earned her career breakthrough victory when she lifted her maiden singles triumph on the WTA Tour in 2012.
She subsequently won her second crown in Guangzhou the same year to reach a career-best ranking of No.23.
“It’s hot but I like the weather here. It favours me an Asian player,” said Su-wei, who also reached the semi-finals here last year before losing to eventual champion Caroline Wozniacki.
Su-wei is a successful doubles player who won the Grand Slam twice at the French Open 2014 and Wimbledon in 2013 (both with Peng Shuai of China) and once ranked number one in the world.
But having found herself out of the top 100 in the past two years, Su-wei has tried to revive her singles career once more – driven by desire to make her second Olympic appearance.
“As I have met my goals in the doubles, I decided to switch my priority back to singles. Last year, I managed to get myself back close to top 100 at the end of the season, and now I’m back in,” explained Su-wei, who boosted her ranking with a semi-final appearance in her native Kaoshiung, Taiwan early this month.
“But as it stands, I’m not sure if it’s enough to qualify me for the Olympics. I will need to continue working hard and try my best to get into Olympics.
“If I qualify, I can also bring one of my compatriot for the doubles event.
“My family, friends and my sponsors, they all want me to participate in Rio. So I’ll try to realise it for them.”
At the London Games, Su-wei made first round exit after losing to Peng Shuai in the singles, but she partnered Chuang Chia-jung to march as far as quarter-finals.
