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Hsieh Su-Wei's surprise return to the WTA is muddled by visa mix-up

The former WTA doubles No. 1 intended to play her first tournament since the end of 2021 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

ByLiya Davidov

Published Feb 17, 2023

FLASHBACK: Hsieh was last on court for the 2021 WTA Finals, where she finished runner-up alongside Elise Mertens.

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Arriving to Dubai with high expectations, a doubles player awaits the arrival of her surprise partner. The match dates are set and soon approaching, but her partner is yet to be seen. And just as the deadline to withdraw from the tournament—or switch partners—passes, she receives the notice that partner Hsieh Su-Wei's visa has been declined.

“I get visa to the wrong country,” said Hsieh, the 37-year-old hoping to make a surprise appearance at the WTA 1000.

With a career-high No. 1 ranking in doubles and No. 23 in singles, Hsieh has made her mark on the WTA tour since turning pro in the early 2000s, but hasn't been seen on court since the end of 2021 when she and Elise Mertens finished runner-up at the WTA Finals in Guadalajara.

Her under-the-radar plan turns exposed when the travel agency would not let her pass, instead advising her to pursue the correct visa for transport. By the time she would receive the correct visa, however, she would be arriving less than a day before her first-round match.

"I was supposed to surprise everyone," she wrote on Facebook. "Turns out a problem to (my) partner."

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Hoping to show everyone her “strong thighs” in Dubai, Hsieh is now calling off her Middle Eastern pursuits.

There is a chance that the inactive, not retired, WTA favorite will make efforts to join the next 1000s event—conceivably a Grand Slam—despite it not working out this time.