Bianca Andreescu's comeback after a 15-month absence from tennis ended abruptly in the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday with a 6-3 6-2 defeat to wily Taiwanese veteran Hsieh Su-wei.
Eighth seed Andreescu, one of the 72 players unable to train during hard quarantine in the leadup, attacked with her typical abandon at Rod Laver Arena but found a brick wall in the form of the double-handed Hsieh, who drove the Canadian to distraction with her defence.
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With no apparent plan B, Andreescu doubled down on the power game and the unforced errors piled up as she slumped to a 5-2 deficit in the second set.
Andreescu saved two match points on serve but bowed out meekly with a double-fault on the third as Hsieh advanced to a third round clash against Venus Williams or Sara Errani.
-Don't mention a woman's age in public, says victorious Hsieh-
Hsieh Su-wei offered a token of advice during her on-court interview after beating Andreescu.
Congratulated by the interviewer at Rod Laver Arena for "still going strong" at the age of 35, Hsieh held a finger to her lips, shook her head and laughed.
"Just little reminder (for) you. In Asia we normally don't say the girl's age in the public," she said, triggering laughter and applause in the stands.
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"You look like you've got plenty more years left," the interviewer persisted, digging his hole a bit deeper.
"I look a little bit younger but I try my best standing here," Hsieh replied. "Thank you for your comment."
Kaohsiung-born Hsieh is the world's top-ranked doubles player but also has an impressive resume in singles having beaten some of the world's biggest names at Grand Slams with her unorthodox double-sided game.
She toppled third seed Garbine Muguruza at the 2018 Australian Open on the way to the fourth round and dumped then world number one Simona Halep out of Wimbledon in the same year.
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