
Rain was constantly messing up the schedule of the BMW Malaysian Open, including the final matches of the tournament, when Petra Martic was forced to play both her semifinal and final in one day. The Croatian had no energy to complete the title match and Hsieh Su-Wei from Chinese Taipei won her first WTA title when her opponent retired in the third set, at 2-6 7-5 4-1.
Not only that Martic played two matches in one day, but her semifinal against second seed Jelena Jankovic lasted more than three hours and finished with the score 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6(5), with Martic saving a match point on the way. In addition, the final against the unseeded Hsieh was taken to the third set as well, and Martic retired after an hour and 45 minutes. It was Martic who won the first set 6-2 and led 4-2 in the second, before tiredness took its toll.
En route to the Kuala Lumpur title, Hsieh defeated Anne Keothavong in the first round, Casey Dellacqua in the second, then had a walkover when top seed Agnieszka Radwanska withdrew, then beat Eleni Daniilidou and in the end Petra Martic succumbed to exhaustion.
The Malaysian Open final was the first WTA title match for both Martic and Hsieh. The 26-year-old Hsieh, ranked 123rd, had only two semifinals before this one, one more than ten years ago, in 2001, and one recently at Pattaya. However, in doubles she won eight WTA titles and was ranked as high as No.9. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)