Yibing Wu: "Writing history for my country"
With Yibing Wu , a 23-year-old has put China firmly on the world tennis map.
by SID
last edit:
Feb 13, 2023, 04:41 pm
Wu Yibing donned a cowboy hat and posed for history-making photos with a grin. "I'm very proud of myself," said the 23-year-old, touched after he became the first Chinese to win a men's tour event in Dallas since the introduction of professional tennis: "I wrote history here for my country and for my homeland."
Wu firmly rammed the Chinese flag into the sport's world map. And the success in the tie-break thriller after around three hours with 6: 7 (4), 7: 6 (3), 7: 6 (12) against the US service giant John Isner could only be the beginning of a development - too Chinese athletes are attracting more and more attention among women.
praise from Isner
At the Australian Open, 18-year-old Shang Juncheng surprised German number two Oscar Otte in the first round. In addition, Zhang Shuai and Zhu Lin were two of the country's players in the round of 16 in Melbourne. At the US Open last year, four of them even reached the third round - a novelty.
The tennis potential that lies dormant in the world's most populous country with around 1.4 billion people is becoming increasingly apparent. "Tennis is going up in China," said the 20-year-old Zheng Qinwen, who has already climbed to 24th place in the world rankings and wants to imitate her famous compatriot Li Na, who was the first Chinese to win a Grand Slam in Paris in 2011 tournament won.
Wu is also stalking his way up to the top of the world and is now 57th in the ranking. "He can hit the ball incredibly and is a very good talent," said the defeated Isner appreciatively.