4-2, Fan Zhendong eliminated Yukiya Utada and successfully advanced to the final. But the process of this game is not as easy as the score shows, and even to some extent, Fan Zhendong's victory in this game is a bit thrilling, which can be seen from his praise for his opponents after the game. Of course, this also reflects the big pattern of "little fat" Fan Zhendong.
In the first semi-final of the Singapore Grand Slam tournament, China's Fan Zhendong took on Japanese rising star Yukiya Utada. Currently, Fan Zhendong ranks first in the world and is the number one seed in the tournament, while Utada ranks 48th. Previously, Fan Zhendong defeated Apollonia, 3-0 Sen Yuen Masataka, 3-2 Ahn Jae-hyun and 3-0 Francesca, while Utada beat Liao Zhenju 3-0, Bol 3-2, 3-1 Lin Zhongxun and 3-2 Qiu Dang.
In the first set, Utada rushed to attack as soon as he came up, starting with a 4-1 win. However, Fan Zhendong quickly found the opponent's backhand weakness after a few rounds of testing, and scored consecutive points to equalize and overtake the score. In the final stage of the inning, Fan Zhendong scored two wonderful points back to score 11-9 ahead of the city.
In the second set, Fan Zhendong started 2-0, but Utada used the drop point to move continuously to chase points. The two sides held each other against each other, and Fan Zhendong scored in a very passive situation, and raised his arms and roared angrily to boost morale. But the opponent suddenly began to fight after that, scoring 5 points in a row to get the first set point. Fan Zhendong returned the ball to the net and gave the opponent a point. 7-11, the big score of the two sides came to 1-1.
In the 3rd set, Fan Zhendong changed his previous control style of play and suddenly broke out, leading 5-1 in the opening game. The opponent uses the change of serve to chase points. Since then, Fan Zhendong has frequently moved during the docking process, quickly pulling the score apart and making the next set 11-7. The other side made consecutive mistakes, returned the ball to the net to give Fan Zhendong the last point, and shook his head helplessly.
In the 4th set, Utada stepped up the fight and accelerated his attack, starting 3-1. Fan Zhendong equalized the score by continuously attacking the opponent's backhand and maintained the lead. In the middle of the game, Fan Zhendong made some impatient and continuous mistakes, and was chased to 9-8 by the other side, and Qin Zhijian decisively suspended. Subsequently, both sides made more mistakes in the serve stage, and the score alternately rose. During the standoff, Fan Zhendong used the change of landing point to pull back his hand, coupled with the scoring of the net, and finally won the set 16-14. The score was 3-1.
In the 5th set, Fan Zhendong took a 2-0 lead in the opening, and the opponent used the speed advantage to tie and reverse the score to 8-5. Fan Zhendong used the change in serve to chase 2 points in a row, forcing the other party to have to pause. After the timeout, Fan Zhendong once used the drop point change to continuously tie the score, but at the critical moment, he was a little anxious, and the attack made consecutive mistakes, and finally lost the set 11-13. The big score came to 3-2.
In the 6th set, Utada fought more resolutely, starting 5-0. Falling behind by a large score, Fan Zhendong showed a strong ability to adjust, and then used the change of serve to score 7 points in a row, and the desperate situation broke out. At the end of the innings, although the opponent once chased to 7 draws, Fan Zhendong still scored 2 consecutive points with the change of the landing point of the serve, and won the last point 11-9, and the other party also bowed his head in despair after losing this point. The score was 4-2, and Fan Zhendong eliminated his opponent to advance to the final first.
After the game, Qin Zhijian found Fan Zhendong for the first time to summarize and communicate the shortcomings of the game. In an interview, Fan Zhendong also did not hesitate to praise his opponent, bluntly saying that the other party played very well. It can be seen how difficult it is for Fan Zhendong to win this game.