The full beef between the Hsieh and Chan families, a 35-post thread 🧵 Searching for the full tea between the Hsiehs…

The full beef between the Hsieh and Chan families, a 35-post thread 🧵 Searching for the full tea between the Hsiehs and Chans? Look no further.

Firstly, who are the Hsiehs and Chans anyway? Hsieh Su-Wei is the most prominent member of her family. She was coached by her father. Her brother, Hsieh Cheng-Peng, has played ATP-level doubles. Her sister, Hsieh Yu-Chieh, has also played on the WTA Tour.

The Chan family includes Latisha Chan, a Grand Slam doubles winner, and her younger sister Chan Hao-Ching (sometimes called Angel), a Grand Slam doubles finalist. Those two were also coached by their father.

Su-Wei has six siblings. Her family grew up poor, and her father drove a camper van to transport her to junior events. The Chans, meanwhile, were middle-class. Their mother worked in PR and would later use her background to secure numerous sponsorships for her daughters.

These two families have been involved in pro tennis as far back as 2004. Both Su-Wei and Latisha played at the 2006 Asian Games for the Taiwanese team. They encountered each other often at ITF level. There was competitive tension, but no real drama at this point.

By the time of the 2014 Asian Games, Hsieh was a two-time Grand Slam champion with Peng Shuai, and the foremost Taiwanese doubles and singles player. The Chan sisters had meanwhile become an elite doubles pairing, mostly playing with each other.

Su-Wei wanted to play women's doubles at the Games with the #2 Taiwanese doubles player- Latisha. But she refused, as she wanted to play with Angel. Previous Taiwan federation rules dictated Hsieh should've gotten her way- however they were changed shortly before the 2014 Games.

As a result, Hsieh announced she was withdrawing from all Asian Games events except for the team competition. In that competition, she ended up getting partnered with Latisha anyway in the gold medal match vs. China. They won their match and the gold, and both praised each other.

The temporary reconciliation didn't last. Hsieh was becoming increasingly outspoken about the way she felt the Taiwan federation (CTTA) had treated her, particularly over funding and national team arrangements. And for the 2016 Rio Olympics, it all boiled over.

For Rio, Hsieh qualified in both singles and doubles. The Chan sisters qualified together for doubles, with a higher doubles ranking than Hsieh. The issue here is that the Olympics only permits you to take a certain number of coaches. Hsieh wanted to take her brother.

Her request was refused. The Chans got to take their father instead. Hsieh's brother was allowed to come, but with reduced accreditation that barred him from certain delegation areas. Hsieh was furious.

She alleged that the CTTA had once again changed its rules to help out the Chans. In previous games, a player qualifying for both singles and doubles (i.e. her) would have coaching selection priority. Prior to the Rio Games, that rule too, had been changed.

So Su-Wei protested. She announced she wouldn't be playing doubles at Rio. This is a controversial point, because it stranded her innocent partner, Chuang Chia-jung, from playing in the Games.

It ultimately didn't matter. By August, following a tumultuous meeting with CTTA officials, Su-Wei announced her complete withdrawal from the Games and immediate retirement from representing Taiwan at international events.

Hsieh's public statements attracted so much attention that the Taiwanese government launched a formal investigation the following year. It found serious deficiencies in the way the rule changes were made and communicated to players. Hsieh was at least partially vindicated.

Now here's the ugly part. The 2017 University Games were held in Taipei. It was a massive event for the country. Su-Wei did not appear due to her national team retirement. However, her brother, Cheng-Peng, who was reaching his career doubles peak, did appear, as did both Chans.

Latisha was selected to play women's doubles with her sister Angel and mixed doubles with Cheng-Peng. Both partnerships did well, although as the Games went on, Latisha began to struggle with the Taipei heat, and released multiple statements to that effect.

The Chan sisters won the women's doubles gold, with Latisha's complaints of heatstroke intensifying. However, she was still entered in mixed with Cheng-Peng, and they were doing well- they'd reached the semifinal and were in contention for gold.

Latisha officially withdrew before the SF. The pairing got bronze. That was all well and good until she immediately traveled to New York and was spotted practicing for the US Open around 48 hours later. She and partner Martina Hingis went on to win the US Open doubles title.

The public outcry against Latisha, in what should've been her proudest career moment, was instantaneous and overwhelming. It appeared as if she helped her sister win gold, withdrew to preserver herself for the US Open, and hung her partner out to dry in the process.

Su-Wei was one of the loudest critics. She posted pictures of her brother also suffering from the heat, as well as other Taiwanese athletes needing IVs and coughing up blood, but persevering regardless of the conditions. Latisha was forced to issue a public apology.

The Hsiehs and Chans met multiple times on court after this. In Wimbledon 2019, Hsieh partnered with Cheng-Peng in mixed. Their run was stopped in the second round... by Latisha Chan and Ivan Dodig. Su-Wei also made a WTA 125 final with sister Yu-Chieh... and lost to the Chans.

The drama continued. Hsieh suddenly made herself available again for national team selection, and in 2020, was called up to the BJK Cup squad. Because of rescheduling, Hsieh was only available to play just one tie. Her coach, Paul McNamee, made this painfully clear to officials.

She was not picked for that tie. The Chan sisters were selected multiple times across singles and doubles. Hsieh was, at this time, the doubles world no. 1. In part due to this, Hsieh missed out on eligibility regarding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

You know who did qualify for Tokyo? Her sister, Hsieh Yu-Chieh- who immediately ran into the same coaching credential problem Su-Wei did in 2016. She and her partner's late qualification meant they didn't get a coach at the Games. The Chans, meanwhile, brought their father again.

Whether this was the result of federation meddling or the Chans' influence is not proven. Regardless, Su-Wei complained anyway. The CTTA once again found itself in hot water because of poor communication and a lack of foresight.

Hsieh remained critical of the CTTA through 2023 but kept playing to preserve Olympic eligibility for 2024. By now she was incredibly skeptical of the federation but was accepting national team call-ups. The BJK Cup squad in 2023 featured Su-Wei and both Chan sisters.

The Paris Games were actually relatively scandal-free. Hsieh qualified and selected Tsao Chia-Yi as her partner. The Chans partnered each other. Hsieh/Tsao made the quarterfinals. The Chans were eliminated in the first round.

This year, Latisha retired from tennis. Her University Games controversy with Hsieh's brother had remained so attached to her that coverage of her retirement announcement still mentioned what had happened. (Also, I ratioed the WTA's official announcement post of her retirement.)

In May, Latisha was then appointed as Taiwan's new BJK Cup captain. This was a pivotal time for Hsieh, who was trying to meet eligibility requirements for LA 2028. The captain is in charge of making squad selections and notifying players.

Come the initial squad selection and... Su-Wei was not on it. Once again Taiwan and Su-Wei cried foul. Hsieh claimed that, this time last year, she was officially notified of her national team call-up, and had not received one from the Chan-led BJK Cup team this year.