Wu breaking new ground for China; Wang downs Sakkari
Wednesday was a good day for China at the 2022 US Open with Wu Yibing continuing his record-breaking run in the men’s singles and Wang Xiyu defeating third seed Maria Sakkari in the women’s event.
Qualifier Wu became the first man from China to win a main draw match when he overcame Nikoloz Basilashvili on Monday and now the 22-year-old has gone one better with a five-set victory over Portugal’s Nuno Borges 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 4-6 6-4 6-4 to set up a third-round clash with top seed and defending champion Daniil Medvedev.
Wu is no stranger to success at Flushing Meadows. Back in 2017, he lifted the boys’ singles trophy, which propelled him to a career-high junior ranking of No. 1 in the world.
Reflecting on that victory, he said: “I'm more happy this time because this is the real tennis world. This is what all the juniors want to be. When you win juniors here, you want to play the men's here.”
And it was the ITF Junior Tour that gave Wu the belief that he was good enough to compete on an international level.
“When I was 16, I started to play some ITF juniors and I started winning international stuff, not only national stuff.
“Whenever I played international [events], I felt ‘Oh, this is something I'm good at, not only in our country, but in international-wise’. Then being junior US Open champion really gave me that confidence that I can play tennis in the men's world also.”
There will be no greater test for Wu than taking on Medvedev in round three, but perhaps he will be buoyed by the fact that compatriot Wang was able to make her mark on the US Open, taking the scalp of No. 3 seed Sakkari.
Wang, who received a $25,000 grant from the Grand Slam Player Development Programme in 2022 to help further her career, has been steadily making progress this year but her victory over Sakkari will surely turn a few heads.
Another former junior world No. 1 and junior US Open champion, Wang bounced back from a set down to overcome Sakkari 3-6 7-5 7-5 to book her place in the third round, where she will face American Alison Riske-Amritraj.
It will be the Chinese player’s first appearance in the third round of a major and will see her jump to a career-high ranking.
Elsewhere on day three at the US Open, Serena Williams stole the headlines after she defeated second seed Anett Kontaveit in what is thought to be her last-ever tennis event.