Tennis-Open-Hsieh makes grand slam mark for Taiwan

By Simon Cambers

MELBOURNE, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Hsieh Su-wei proudly flew the Taiwanese flag on Friday when she became the first player from her country to reach the last 16 of a grand slam tournament.

The 22-year-old qualifier edged out France's Aravane Rezai 6-2 6-7 6-4 and now plays top seed and world number one Justine Henin of Belgium.

World number 158 Hsieh, who plays double-handed on both sides, has now won six matches to get to the fourth round, having come through the qualifying competition.

While Rezai tried to out-power Hsieh, the Taiwanese mixed up the pace, even resorting to moon-ball tactics in an effort both to upset the rhythm of the Frenchwoman and to recover from a series of long rallies.

"She made me run very much and I was tired, so I had to go moon-ball to get more seconds to rest," Hsieh told reporters.

Hsieh began the year by representing Taiwan at the Hopman Cup in Perth, where she claimed a win against world number 38 Gisela Dulko of Argentina. (Editing by Ossian Shine)