Hong Kong Tennis Open: Taiwanese-mainland Chinese duo Tsao and Tang lift doubles title in Victoria Park
- Tsao Chia-yi and Tang Qianhui thrill bumper Centre Court crowd with dramatic 7-5, 1-6, 11-9 victory on Sunday
- Fan favourites save three championship points in match tiebreak against Oksana Kalashnikova and Aliaksandra Sasnovich
Tsao Chia-yi was supposed to spend the week on holiday. But she still ended up in paradise after lifting the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open doubles title in dramatic fashion on Sunday.
The 19-year-old Taiwanese – ranked No 352 in the world in doubles – and mainland Chinese partner Tang Qianhui won 7-5, 1-6, 11-9, saving three match points against Oksana Kalashnikova and Aliaksandra Sasnovich in Victoria Park.
Tsao said on Saturday night she had “no idea” she was even going to play in Hong Kong this week, and had been planning a break until her mother called and told her she was in the draw as a wild card, after another team dropped out – a feeling she admitted was “surreal”.
“I had already played three or four weeks in a row, so our plan was to go back to have a rest and have a holiday first,” Tsao told the Post after the match.
“I planned to come to a few places in Taipei with my sister but suddenly my mum told me, so I had to go back to the court agin to be ready. Now I will go on holiday next week for sure.”
Tsao admitted winning her first WTA title was the best moment of my career – and has given her a taste for silverware.
“There are still no words, because we didn’t expect it, but it’s amazing,” she added.
“We loved the fans here, we’re really proud and we enjoyed it. I just want to keep doing my best in the future, I hope I can win as much as I can. It’s the first title but I will try to get more.”
The first match on finals day had certainly set the tone before the singles final between Leylah Fernandez and Katerina Siniakova.
A tight opening set stayed on serve until Tang and Tsao broke for 6-5, and they held to take first blood with the Hong Kong crowd roaring them on.
But Belarus’ Sasnovich and Georgia’s Kalashnikova raced into a 4-0 lead in the second set, securing the double break and going on to ensure a first-to-10 match tiebreak.
Tang and Tsao got the first mini-break en route to a 4-1 lead in the decider, but their opponents surged back to lead 5-4.
The European duo then brought up three championship points at 9-6, but Tang and Tsao saved then all before turning it around to seal victory in one hour, 33 minutes.
“We were down 9-6. But in the third set you always have a chance,” Tsao added.
“If you’re still on the court you have a chance to get back and it was my turn to serve, so I told [Tang] not to worry, we still have a chance, we need to focus. I just focused on what I had to do, my toes, in the moment. It was an amazing comeback.”
