Peng Shuai: A perfect ending

Updated: 2013-10-28 13:44

By Yan Weijue (chinadaily.com.cn)

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Peng Shuai: A perfect ending

Peng Shuai, left, and Hsieh Su-Wei pose for a photo during an interview with China Daily. [Photo provided to China Daily]

I'm thrilled to win the doubles title of the WTA Championships with my partner Hsieh Su-Wei in Istanbul today. I've received tons of text messages from friends following that match. How sweet is that!

Our opponents - Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina – always proved to be a tough match for us. We met them last time in Cincinnati (in August) and escaped with a narrow win after a third-set super tie-breaker.

Their servings made me somewhat uncomfortable today. Vesnina is right-handed and Makarova is a lefty, and you know in doubles matches when a left-handed player serves, the direction of the ball is harder to predict because of the positioning.

I was a bundle of nerves before the match. I remember telling Su-Wei at one point that I might need to go to hospital because my heart was pumping so hard. However, they seemed to be more nervous than us at the start, as we swiftly clinched a 5-1 lead in the first set.

But they picked themselves up right after that and bridged the gap to 5-4 with a slew of nice shots.

I think both teams brought out the best in each other today. In the last couple of games we put on quite a show with a barrage of spectacular and long rallies.

It has been a bittersweet season for me. I had those beautiful moments like today, but I went through rough patches as well. The daily routine of practice was exhausting and boring, but the company of coaches and friends took a lot of the stress off my shoulders.

And there is Su-Wei. Frankly speaking, we butt heads at times. But this year I have learned to look at things from a different perspective on difficult occasions and grew mentally stronger. And in this way we really clicked. Like in today's final, I stood up for her when she was feeling tight and vice versa.

A couple of times this year, we were negative about a steady partnering situation. But the Wimbledon title silenced all doubts and got things back on track. Yep, that is one of the most wonderful memories for us this year.

Many people wonder if we will still work as doubles partners next year. I can't tell you that because we haven't mapped out our game plan for next year yet. From a personal standpoint, I think if we don't play well in the future we will part ways, LOL. (Joking) We'll see how it goes.

As the season finally draws to an end, I've planned to take two weeks off for vacation. I will return to winter training on Nov 11.

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