Su-Wei Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko realised they’d been given the wrong trophies (Image: Nine WWOS)
There was an awkward moment during the women’s doubles trophy presentation at the as Jelena Ostapenko realised she’d been given the wrong plate.
Ostapenko and her new partner, Su-Wei Hsieh, lost a tight three-set final to Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend on Sunday.
The runners-up were forced to hand their trophies back and swap them for new ones.
The tennis world was eager to watch Hsieh and Ostapenko in action as a doubles team after they paired up for the 2025 season. Both women have big personalities and fans couldn’t wait to see that translate to the court.
They immediately enjoyed success in their first Grand Slam tournament together, reaching the championship match. But top seeds Siniakova and Townsend were just too strong, and they won 6-2 6-7(4) 6-3.
As the runners-up, No. 3 seeds Hsieh and Ostapenko received small silver plates to commemorate their run.
During the trophy presentation, former Australian doubles legend Judy Dalton presented the duo with their plates. But Ostapenko immediately spotted that something was wrong.
Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova beat Su-Wei Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko (Image: Getty)
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The Latvian started reading the plate as soon as she received it and noticed it wasn’t for the runners-up. She told Hsieh and extended her arm out to hand the plate back, saying: “It’s wrong one.”
There were two podiums with identical silver plates on them and tournament director Craig Tiley, who was part of the presentation ensemble, realised there was a mix-up. “It’s the other one,” he told Dalton and the players.
Dalton took the plates back from the third seeds and returned them to their place before handing them the correct plates as the Rod Laver Arena crowd broke out into laughter, realising what had happened.
Hsieh and Ostapenko finally got to hold up the correct runner-up plates and address the crowd before Siniakova and Townsend collected the trophy.
“I’m not very happy this trophy is a little bit smaller than your trophy so I hope next time I have the bigger one,” Hsieh joked as she congratulated their opponents. “For my partner, thank you for answering my invitation.”
The former doubles No. 1 was still irked about the trophy, joking: “Unfortunately we’re not winning the bigger trophy today but I hope we will win the next one!”
Ostapenko added: “Thanks Su-Wei for playing with me. For the second tournament, playing a Grand Slam final, it’s not bad together. I hope there are many more trophies coming for us.”
It quickly became apparent that the plates Hsieh and Ostapenko initially received were for their rival’s coaches. Siniakova and Townsend’s mentors received plates to commemorate their efforts in helping the top seeds lift the title.