China has the first ATP champion tennis player
In the three-hour final at the ATP 250 tournament in the US, Wu Yibing never won the game of his 2m08 tall opponent. But by defeating Isner in two of three tie-breaks, Wu became the first Chinese player to win an ATP tournament in the Open Era.
Wu had to save four match-points, including a break-point at the end of the second set and three risks of losing in a suffocating tie-break in the decisive set. In that series, young Chinese talent also needed the fifth championship-point to be crowned. At 13-12 for Wu, the 23-year-old returned well, then fell to the court to celebrate his victory when Isner shot out on his second touchdown.
Wu went through a proud journey in Dallas, as third seed Denis Shapovalov and eighth seed Adrian Mannarino, before defeating first seed Taylor Fritz in the semifinals. In the final, he was at a disadvantage when the fifth seed Isner received enthusiastic cheers from the home audience. Wu suffered 44 aces from his opponent, but still stood and won 2-1.
"He played every point equally, without fear," Isner commented on juniors. "It's hard to put him in an uncomfortable position of hitting the ball. He's a talent with unbelievable tackles." Wu scored 31 winners in the final, most of which came from his strong forehand.
The match Wu beat Fritz in the semi-finals was also the first time a Chinese male player defeated a top 10 opponent in the world. Today, he becomes the country's second player to enter the ATP top 100, at 97th in the world. On the scoreboard update next week, Wu will rise to 58th - the highest ranking in history with a Chinese male tennis player.
Wu once lost to Ly Hoang Nam in two sets at the 2015 Malaysian Open youth tournament. After that, the Chinese prodigy improved greatly year by year, becoming the number one young player in the world in 2017. Wu made his Grand Slam debut in Last year's US Open, beating 31st seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round and Nuno Borges in the second, before losing to Daniil Medvedev in the third. Wu is also the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam main round in the Open Era.
