On November 10, the second round of the women's singles competition at the 2021 WTA250 Linz was held between China's Xiaohua Wang Xinyu, who was promoted to the qualifiers, and the top seed of the tournament, the US Open champion Radulcanu. After 2 hours and 36 minutes of hard fighting, Wang Xinyu defeated Radulcanu 6-1, 6-7 and 7-5 to advance to the women's singles quarterfinals, and the world ranking crossed the top 100 threshold for the first time. This is the first time in wang's career that she has beaten the top 20 players in the world rankings.
Wang Xinyu started from the qualifiers. Each round encountered a bitter battle, and the second reversal was reversed to advance. Coming to the second round of the women's singles, facing the most popular new Kemei Open champion Radukanu this year, Wang Xinyu is the one who is not optimistic. Although Wang Xinyu reached a career high of 106 in the world rankings, Raducannu also entered the top 20 for the first time in the world rankings.
This game has attracted much attention because of the gathering of two new talents. Raducannu's performance at the US Open shocked the world, and Wang Xinyu is a new star in China's current limelight. Previously, Wang Xinyu had no victory over the top 50 players in the world rankings, but the outside world was also full of expectations for Wang Xinyu, who was tall and arm-length. Wang Xinyu was born into a sports family. His father, Wang Peng, was a coach for the Chinese national tennis team, and his mother was a former basketball player. Wang Xinyu once joked that she started playing ball in her mother's belly. With Wang Xinyu choosing to become a professional tennis player, Wang Peng chose to resign from the coaching position of the national team, help his daughter form a team, hire foreign teachers and physical teachers, and let her daughter embark on a professional road.
Entering the game, Wang Xinyu's performance shocked her opponent in the first set. After saving his first serve, Radukadu was torn by Wang Xinyu's strong forehand attack, and after a wave of shock waves of six consecutive sets, Radukanu was forced to swallow the invisible egg and lost the first set 1-6. Among them, Wang Xinyu's winning score with his opponent once reached 13-3.
At the beginning of the second set, After Wang Xinyu successfully broke, his play fluctuated slightly, and he was pulled apart by Raducannu. However, Wang Xinyu did not panic in the backward situation and dragged the game into the seventh. In the seventh inning, Radukanu performed well, and after seven consecutive points, he snatched seven sets at 7-0. Wang Xinyu's physical advantage in the decider was revealed in the final stages. As Radukadu's own serve in the 9th inning suddenly fluctuated, Wang Xinyu broke down four consecutive points. After that, Raducannu did not give up, and after saving two match points, he once again achieved a counter-break. With Wang Xinyu winning another serve in the 12th set, China Xiaohua finally reversed her opponent to advance to the women's singles quarterfinals.
The significance of this game is not only because Wang Xinyu has reached the top 100 mark in the world ranking for the first time with this victory, but also her body has passed the test of the competition for the first time. In the second round of the 2019 WTA Shenzhen Open, Wang Xinyu, who was 17 years old at the time, encountered a strong challenge from Sharapova. Wang Xinyu played at full strength in the first set, once taking a 4-1 lead and winning the first set with seven wins. Just when the audience was expecting Xiaohua to create a cold game, Wang Xinyu returned the ball in the second set, due to the cold weather and the intensity of the game, her legs suddenly cramped and fell to the ground. In the end, she had no choice but to take the lead and retire. When the game was suspended, there was a heart-warming scene in the venue. Her opponent, Sava, sat next to Wang Xinyu, patted Her shoulder to comfort the little girl, and covered her legs with a towel. Sava also revealed after the game that she encouraged Wang Xinyu, "I told her, 'If you can play like this, you will become a great player in the future'. ”
It can be said that Wang Xinyu, who was 17 years old at the time, has already impressed Sharapova with her own performance. After choosing her own career path in tennis, Wang Xinyu carried the weight forward in the sweat and tears of success. In 2018, Wang Xinyu reached the women's singles final four of the Youth Olympic Games, but after losing to Cornett, he missed the bronze medal and burst into tears; after that, Wang Xinyu won the Australian Open wild card championship at the age of 16, becoming the youngest Chinese player in China to participate in the Grand Slam main tournament. After the 2019 Shenzhen Open, Wang Xinyu improved physically and technically. The 2021 season is a key year for Wang Xinyu to achieve transformation. She competes in consecutive tournaments and competitions. With consecutive performances in the WTA Tenerife station, and WTA Kumayor station against compatriot Zhang Shuai, the world ranking is close to the top 100 for the first time. After defeating the US Open champion in three sets, Wang Xinyu finally stepped into the top 100 threshold.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Chu Peng
Editor/Zhou Xueshuai