Taiwan’s top professional women's singles tennis player Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) has qualified to play in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, but if she does, it will likely be without a coach.

In a July 5 post the player described the unfair treatment she says she has received throughout her career, and is now asking for financial compensation from the state.

Already when Hsieh was competing at Wimbledon last month, she had posted on her Facebook page that she would not participate in the 2016 Olympics without her coach.

Regulations from the Chinese Taipei Tennis Association (the official name of Taiwan's tennis association) stipulate that only one coach is allowed to travel abroad with every four qualifying players. Thus, with Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然) and Chan Hao-ching (詹皓晴) qualifying for women’s doubles and Lu Yen-hsun (盧彥勳) making it into the men’s single, only one coach has permission to travel to Rio with the players. Given the Chan sisters' current No. 5 ranking globally, while Hsieh is No. 69 and Lu No. 75, the association is reportedly leaning towards selecting the Chans' coach to accompany the players to Rio.

Further, the association announced on July 4 that Chuang Chia-jung (莊佳容) has also qualified to play in the women’s doubles, meaning that the Taiwanese team now counts five players heading to the 2016 Olympics. Negotiations on July 5 failed to resolve the coach issue.

In her list, Hsieh also describes her past disputes with Chan Yung-jan. Whether Hsieh will play in Rio remains uncertain.

First Editor: J. Michael Cole
Second Editor: Edward White