RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Jelena Ostapenko is trying dutifully to explain the dynamics of her doubles partnership with Hsieh Su-Wei.<\/p>\n
\u201cChemistry,\u201d Ostapenko intones. \u201cThe balance …\u201d<\/p>\n
The irrepressible Hsieh cannot help but interrupt.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe both are cuckoo!\u201d she says, practically shrieking.<\/p>\n
Ostapenko shakes her head and rolls her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe both understand each other,\u201d Ostapenko says. \u201cJust looking at each other, we know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then they look at each other — and dissolve into laughter.<\/p>\n
This is the kind of crackling energy — synergy, really — that helps win matches. Deep experience is the other thing that defines the four teams to reach the semifinals here at the WTA Finals.<\/p>\n
Ostapenko is only 28 years old, but she turned professional 14 years ago, winning a Roland Garros singles title along the way. Hsieh, at 39 the oldest player to qualify, is the ultimate mercenary with 35 career titles — with nine different partners (none of them, notably, Ostapenko). You\u2019ll find her picture in Webster\u2019s Dictionary under the word \u201ccrafty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seven of the 16 doubles players gathered here are 30-plus. Four are 29 and three more 28. It works out to an average age of 30 on the button, three-and-a-half years older than the average singles player.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am upping that number,\u201d Hsieh said, smiling.<\/p>\n
The four teams to advance to the semifinals are fairly dripping with experience: No. 1 Katerina Siniakova-Taylor Townsend, No. 4 Elise Mertens-Veronika Kudermetova, No. 6 Ostapenko-Hsieh and No. 7 Timea Babos-Luisa Stefani.<\/p>\n
Consider the fate of Mirra Andreeva, 18, and partner Diana Shnaider, 21. They were the youngest team to qualify for the WTA Finals, in terms of combined age, since a 20-year-old Martina Hingis and 19-year-old Anna Kournikova in 2000.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ranked No. 9 and No. 21 in singles, respectively, they were eliminated on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Nothing better<\/p>\n
The chase began before the 2024 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy coach was very aggressive to catch Alona,\u201d Hsieh explained. \u201cIt did not happen the first time, but it happened. She\u2019s very popular girl. Hot, hot, hot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ostapenko played last year with Lyudmyla Kichenok, but opted for Hsieh in 2025. She was asked to give a scouting report<\/p>\n
\u201cSu-Wei is very up and down — no, no, I\u2019m joking,\u201d Ostapenko said. \u201cI think that she has really good hands. She\u2019s one of the best volley players in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hsieh on Ostapenko: \u201cShe hit the ball good. Very aggressive. And she tries really hard. This is the most important stuff, because you don\u2019t always play your best.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the sixth WTA Finals for the diminutive Chinese player. A dozen years ago, she won in her very first appearance, with Peng Shuai. In 2019, she lost in the final with Barbora Strycova and again in the 2021 final with Mertens. She and Mertens were in the field a year ago in Riyadh\u2019s debut.<\/p>\n
Hsieh has actually retired once already.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was not doing any sport for one and one-half years,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was an accidental comeback. I couldn\u2019t find something better to do in the retired life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oddly enough, Ostapenko (37-15) and Hsieh (33-17) qualified but failed to win a title together this year.<\/p>\n
Hsieh said that her experience helps compensate for any deterioration in her physical skills. Optimism might be her biggest asset.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe good thing will come, just need to be patient. When the time comes, I will take it.<\/p>\n
What goes around, comes around<\/p>\n
Three years ago, Mertens and Kudermetova went all the way, winning the title at the year-end championship in Fort Worth. They parted ways afterward.<\/p>\n
Mertens played with Storm Hunter in 2023 and Hsieh in 2024. Kudermetova, after playing with a number of partners in 2023, was more exclusive with Chan Hao-Ching last year.<\/p>\n
When Mertens was looking for a new partner for 2025, she texted Kudermetova.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, are you up for teaming up again?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Kudermetova did not immediately respond.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d she said, laughing, \u201cI waited a few hours — to make her nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said Mertens, \u201cShe said yes, so here we are again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their chemistry meshes nicely.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re both kind of introverts,\u201d Mertens said. \u201cSo we like quiet time and also because we\u2019re singles players. We practice together and we\u2019re going to be better players, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, the two are anything but doubles specialists. Mertens is currently ranked No. 20 in singles, while Kudermetova is 30. Mertens won two singles titles this year, in \u2018sHertogenbosch\u00a0and Singapore.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you are not good enough in singles and doubles helps you for sure,\u201d Kudermetova said. \u201cIf you lose early in singles, you\u2019re still in the tournament. You still practice, play matches. That\u2019s why the dial pushes up for singles.<\/p>\n
Added Mertens, \u201cAnd if you win a couple of matches, it gives you confidence. You practice serve, volleys, reaction \u2026 it\u2019s only a plus to play doubles.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two combined for this year\u2019s Wimbledon title.<\/p>\n
This is Mertens\u2019 seventh appearance at the WTA Finals — and Kudermetova, playing with her for the second time, is her fifth partner. Here\u2019s the breakdown: 2018 (Demi Schuurs), 2019 (Aryna Sabalenka), 2021 (Hsieh Su-Wei), 2022 (Kudermetova), 2023 (Storm Hunter), 2024 (Hsieh), 2025 (Kudermetova).<\/p>\n
Wait — what? Sabalenka — currently the World No.1 in singles — qualified for the year-end championship in doubles before singles?<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Mertens said. \u201cStill very young, had a lot of power. I remember sometimes the ball would go beside my ear [on the serve] \u2026 scary. She was a great player already. We had a lot of success. During COVID-19 we practiced a lot in Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe had so much potential. I knew. She just needed some consistency at that stage of her career. She managed mentally to stay stable and now she\u2019s at the top of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Playing again with Mertens has freed Kudermetova to be even more honest than before.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes during the match, I can say this part of my game I don\u2019t think is working so well — let\u2019s see what we can do better,\u201d Kudermetova said. \u201cIn an early match at Wimbledon, she said, `I don\u2019t feel my return or the forehand. I cannot play with the angle.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, `OK, let\u2019s do something else.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Mertens smiled and said, \u201cAnd we won it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Getting better \u2026 all the time<\/p>\n
If it seems like these elite doubles players do a fair amount of jumping around, that\u2019s because they do. It\u2019s a finite universe and, over the long haul of a season, traveling the world in such close quarters, it can get a little claustrophobic.<\/p>\n
Given different family dynamics, travel schedules don\u2019t always mesh.<\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s the singles factor. The No. 3 team of Dabrowski and Routliffe, as well as No. 7 Timea Babos and Luis Stefani are not ranked in singles at all. Still, a number of players are ranked relatively high in singles and that takes precedent over doubles scheduling, as in the case of Andreeva and Shnaider.<\/p>\n
Babos and Stefani win to remain in the hunt at the WTA Finals<\/p>\n
Ostapenko was a winner this year in Abu Dhabi with Ellen Perez and Charleston with Routliffe. When Townsend said she wasn\u2019t ready for the WTA 1000s in Beijing and Wuhan, Siniakova promptly won Wuhan with Storm Hunter and Seoul with her old partner Barbora Krejcikova. Townsend, meanwhile, won the Osaka crown with Kristina Mladenovic\u00a0and reached the Tokyo semifinals with Ellen Perez.<\/p>\n
Thirteen years ago, Babos won the title in Birmingham with the 26-year-old Hsieh. She\u2019s gone on to collect seven Grand Slam doubles titles, four of them at Wimbledon. Does Babos, 32, imagine herself playing until she\u2019s 39?<\/p>\n
\u201cMe, no,\u201d Babos said. \u201cI say that now. I keep my word, I\u2019m not playing at the age of 39. Hsieh\u2019s lifestyle is unique, her body, her game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several weeks ago, when Siniakova was looking for a partner in Ningbo, she linked up with Hsieh. They won two matches and reached the semifinals.<\/p>\n
Siniakova, 29, just won the Martina Navratilova trophy for year-end doubles No. 1 for the fifth time. Thirty-nine, she said, seems like a stretch.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody is saying I can play doubles for another 20 years, but I would love to have a family, so we\u2019ll see how it goes,\u201d Siniakova said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Su-Wei is amazing. I remember when I was just starting, she was already so good — and she\u2019s still playing. Not everyone is playing — no, no one is playing like her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hsieh isn\u2019t sure when she\u2019ll retire again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m healthy and enjoy, I\u2019ll keep doing,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m getting better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n
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