Taiwan’s number one, Hsieh Su-wei, returned to the court on Monday for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic ended the WTA Tour, falling in a 6-3, 6-1 loss to US Open quarter-finalist Elise Mertens. who made a forged transition from the New York courts to the clay courts at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
“I don’t know if I’ve adapted well, to be honest,” Mertens told the WTA website. “I feel like I’m still a little sore. It was also the first game of the week of [Hsieh]. “So it was a credit to me. Moving from the complicated to the clay is a little complicated over time and time, but I tried to give everything I had today, I tried to adapt where I could.
While Kaohsiung-born Hsieh scored the global number 62, he scored 11 winners, he defeated through 22 direct fouls and 8 double fouls as the overall number 11 set a step ahead of the Taiwanese 3-1, the Belgian’s only defeat to come. when he had to give in 6-2, 4-0 in Tianjing, China, in 2018.
Picture: Reuters
“You can be waiting for a lot of other shots: drop-shots, slices, a balloon if you get to the net,” Mertens said of Hsieh. “You may be expecting some smart shots, but I tried to combine things too, because I think he likes big hitters, so he can use speed and advance in his variety. I think I did everything right today.
Defeat allows Hsieh to meet his main goal in Rome, a fourth doubles name of the year alongside his wife Barbora Strycova after victories in Brisbane, Dubai and Doha.
As the most sensible seed, the global No. 1 Hsieh and the No. 2 overall Strycova were excluded from the round of moments. They face Japanese duo Nao Hibino and Makoto Ninomiya, who went back a set to defeat Italian wild-cards Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Martina Trevisan 1-6, 7-5, 10-5 in the first round.
Czech Strycova maintained her interest in singles by beating Russian Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-3, but faces a much more difficult task at the circular moment when confronted by protective champion and seed Karolina Pliskova.
In men’s singles, Japan’s Kei Nishikori was awarded his first win in a year, with former semi-finalists Grigor Dimitrov and Marin Cilic qualifying for the round of the moment.
Nishikori six-ball in shape to beat Spaniard Albert Ramos-Viñolas 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) in two hours at the Foro Italico for his first win since reaching the third circular of the U. S. Open last year.
“It’s been a long time since the U. S. Open last year,” said the 30-year-old, who reached a three-quarter Grand Slam quarter-final last season before undergoing elbow surgery.
“I still don’t have confidence in myself, but little by little I’m getting better,” he said.
Rome’s 2014 semi-finalist Dimitrov beat Italian wildcard Gianluca Mager 7-5, 6-1, while Cilic, who lost to Alexander Zverev in the semi-final in Rome two years ago, defeated Kazakh Alexander Bublik 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-4.