Taiwanese tennis year in review (female)

Hsieh Su-Wei

 

2011 Year end rank: 172

2012 Current rank: 25

Doubles Rank: 25

What a year for Su-Wei! She won 2 WTA title and 3 ITF singles title. Along with that she won a doubles title each on the two circuits. She reached a career high ranking and is now the highest ranked Taiwanese player in history. Her original goal for the year was to qualify for the Olympics, and she did that raising her ranking more than a 100 places to achieve it. There is a lot more I want to say that I'll be writing another post of Su-Wei in the future.

Chang Kai-Chen (right)

 

2011 Year end rank: 142

2012 Current rank: 89

Doubles Rank: 78

Kai-Chen (affectionately known as KFC) had her best year end ranking thanks in part to a 28-26. She did better in doubles with a 19-8 record. She had disastrous results during the European clay and grass and the US hard court. At one point she was 5-16 during a six month period. She turned it around once the Asian circuit came. She reached the finals of 220K Osaka (losing in a thriller) and 125K Taipei. In addition, she won doubles titles at Kuala Lumpur, Washington DC, and ITF Ningbo.

Chan Yung-Jan

 

2011 Year end rank: 132

2012 Current rank: 103

Doubles Rank: 73

Yung-Jan had an up and down year with a record of 20-14 in singles and a 11-12 record in doubles. She only played 14 tournaments this year because of a surgery for the removal of a cyst sidelining her for the first part of the year. She also suffered dizziness at Guangzhou, ending her season prematurely in September. Her best results came from reaching the semifinal of Carlsbad and the final of ITF Beijing.  These helped her rise 29 places in the rankings. Here's hoping that next year she can maintain a full schedule and rise up in the ranks!

Chuang Chia-Jung (left)

 

Doubles Rank: 39

Chia-Jung won two WTA tour (Kuala Lumpur and Estoril) doubles titles this year, meaning she now has a total of 19 doubles title in her career. She raised her ranking up eight places and won $90,000 in prize money. She also qualified for the Olympics and at 27, she is now a well established doubles veteran on the tour.

Chan Hao-Ching (far left)

Doubles Rank: 50

Yung-Jan's younger sister rose about 60 places in the doubles rankings. She won ITF Quanzhou and WTA Taipei leading to a 24-18 record. She has also played with her sister at several events with the best result being the round of 16 at Roland Garros and a final at Pattaya City. Proving she belonged on the tour, she scored wins over double specialists Grandin, Uhilirova, Mattek-Sands, Mirza, Lee-Waters, and Moulton-Levy. She's only 19 and the future looks bright for her.

 

Honorable Mention:

Chan Chin-Wei-Singles winner at ITF Incheon and Doubles winner at ITF Taipei 2

Hsieh Shu-Ying (Su-Wei's younger sister)-Doubles winner at ITF Wenshan and ITF Karuizawa