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Monica Puig challenged in the late stages but it was an effort too late at the ASB Classic Wednesday. Su-Wei Hsieh charged ahead before pulling out all the stops in a tiebreak to win the match 6-1, 7-6(3) on center court at the ASB Arena in Auckland. Hsieh ended a two-match losing streak to the power hitter and advancing to the quarterfinals.
This was the third meeting, and the first since 2017, between the two, with Puig holding the series lead. Both won their opening matches in straight sets making them warmed up for further competition. The Puerto Rican carries the forte of being strong on the hard courts while carrying a great right-handed serve. While she had to go three sets against the number one Taiwanese last time, the 25-year-old would bring her success from three days ago and go for it.
Puig attacked Hsieh on serve after a break chance came to the Puerto Rican but couldn’t hold it together. The number three seed forced deuce and avoided two more break opportunities to Puig before shutting the door. Hsieh successfully broke her in the second before consolidating a 3-0 lead. Puig called her coach down to help her recover the small deficit during the changeover.
She put a temporary stop to Hsieh’s winning streak but it was too little, too late. The third seed coasted to victory in the next three games allowing Puig just three points combined before blanking the 25-year-old in the seventh concluding 27 minutes. Puig’s second serve was almost non-existent in the set with just 5 of 17 made on the returns.
The Puerto Rican knew that something drastic had to come from her game in the next set which luckily came to fruition. She and Hsieh traded wins, including breaks, but the leverage stood in the hands of the third seed who stayed out front on the score inching closer to a straight sets chance.
Puig remained down a game after seven trying to level in the eighth with breakpoint attempts. After a stumble on the serve, Puig found her opportunity to fire back a line drive for the win to level the set at four all.
A very good service game from Puig resulted in her gaining the lead to keep her hopes alive. It forced Hsieh to call down her coach and figure a way to extend the set. She was under pressure in the tenth with Puig in position to take the set on the break but even after a challenge that didn’t go Hsieh’s way, the 32-year-old gained the AD point before laying down a winner far out of reach of Puig.
The 25-year-old responded with an important hold that made it 6-5 with all the pressure still on Hsieh to force a tiebreak or go the distance. An ace helped her accomplish that with an error from Puig forcing her to continue the match herself. She opened a 3-1 lead on Hsieh but the third seed recovered the lost ground intent on ending this at all cost.
She picked up two more before another error from Puig made it match point for the 32-year-old. It was all said and done as Puig returned the ball into the net for a second time to send her out in 1 hour and 24 minutes.
