Wild US Open doubles match devolves into player box taunts, a cold net snub, utter chaos
Taipei Tennis Rivalry Turns Violent at US Open
A long‑standing personal feud between Taiwanese tennis stars Hsieh Su‑wei and Chan Hao‑ching boiled over in the Women’s Doubles Round of 16 at the US Open, turning a routine match into a dramatic confrontation on Flushing Meadows’ hard courts.
Fourth‑seeded Hsieh and her Latvian partner, Jeļena Ostapenko, dispatched Chan and Australian Maya Joint 6‑4, 6‑4, but the result was overshadowed by a series of on‑court incidents that exposed the depth of the animosity between the two players.
Mid‑match, Ostapenko and Hsieh accused Chan’s coach of heckling from the player’s box. According to the players, the coach repeatedly applauded unforced errors and double faults in Mandarin, a language Ostapenko does not speak. Hsieh, who does, interpreted the remarks for her partner, prompting Ostapenko to demand that a Chinese translator be brought onto the court. “They do this because they know they cannot beat us, because they’re so much worse than us,” Ostapenko shouted at one point.
The tension escalated after Ostapenko secured match point. In a display of frustration, she screamed directly at Chan’s coaching box, a moment captured by cameras and later replayed for viewers.
The physical component of the showdown unfolded at the net. When the final point was sealed, Chan extended a handshake to Ostapenko but deliberately ignored Hsieh, walking past her without a handshake or eye contact. The snub was a vivid illustration of the rivalry that has simmered beneath the surface for years.
Both athletes represent Chinese Taipei in international competition, a designation required by governing bodies. Their conflict, however, is rooted in domestic disputes over resources, funding, and preferential treatment within Taiwan’s tennis infrastructure.
Hsieh, a former doubles world No. 1, has long claimed that the Chinese Taipei Tennis Association favors Chan and her elder sister, Latisha Chan, in matters of sponsorship, coaching credentials, and financial support. The tension reached a boiling point at the 2016 Rio Olympics, when the Taiwanese tennis establishment reportedly sidelined Hsieh’s coach in favor of the Chan sisters. In protest, Hsieh withdrew from the Games, a decision that ignited a decade‑long grudge that finally erupted on the New York hard courts.
The incident at Flushing Meadows underscores the broader challenges facing Taiwan’s tennis community, where internal politics and resource allocation can spill over into high‑stakes competition. As the US Open continues, the match between Hsieh and Chan will be remembered as much for its on‑court drama as for the lingering feud that sparked it.
