"Today's game was very tough, I may have 'eaten' 100 aces!" Wu Yixiang spread his hands, and laughter rolled out in the audience.
In the final of the Dallas Open of the ATP Tour held in the early morning of February 13, 2023, Beijing time, China's Wu Yixiang saved four championship points and defeated America's Isner, becoming the first Chinese in history to win the ATP (World Professional Tennis Federation) Tour title.
In the nearly three-hour game, Isner blasted 44 ACE balls, and Wu Yixiang did not forget to joke about this when he delivered his victory speech, praising the strength of his opponent, "He donated $100 for each ace (direct score on serve) to charity, and today there will be many children who benefit from so many ACE balls, and I am happy when the children are happy." By the way, when he served, I stood there without time to swing the racket, so I could only stand still, which is also a little credit, right? ”
Isner bit his lip to hold back a laugh, and the audience was already crazy with joy. The 23-year-old young man from Hangzhou, China, masters not only tennis rackets, but also American humor and authentic American language.
"You played so well, this week and today! I am sure that you will have a very good future in this project. Isner extended his heartfelt congratulations to the Chinese boy who was 15 years younger than himself. Before the Dallas Tour, there was no Chinese to reach the men's Tour final or beat the top 10 ATP opponents in the Open years. Wu Yixiang completed these two feats in one fell swoop in the semifinals and led Chinese tennis to take a big step forward.
At the moment when Wu Yixiang won the championship and fell to the ground to celebrate, the commentator of Tennis TV issued a series of emotions, "For him, winning the ATP championship for the first time, what a beautiful moment!" Chinese men's tennis has been longing for this breakthrough for a long time! The commentator apparently knew enough about the Chinese dark horse before the game, and he repeatedly lamented that the 23-year-old was still outside the world ranking 12 months ago, "Now he is about to knock on the door of the top 50 in the world ranking of men's professional tennis. ”
"Accept what happens"
"Yi Bing Wu", many fans carefully tried to pronounce his name through the background board of the scene, yes, the pronunciation of "昺" is the same as "禀", and the pronunciation of the word "Yi Xiang" will naturally make people associate with "gifted".
Elite sports players have never lacked legends of talent, and if you want to pursue the profession of the top of the pyramid, talent is the first stone. Wu Yixiang picked up a tennis racket since he was a child, and he was a talented seedling in the eyes of his coach.
He was only four or five years old when he came into contact with tennis, and at the age of 8, he was selected by the coach of the Zhejiang provincial team, and at the insistence of his mother, the provincial team specially approved him for "walking training". Since English is an essential language tool for professional tennis players, Wu Yixiang's mother has made him listen to English materials since he was a child and become familiar with English expressions on the tennis court.
In addition to talent, to make a name for yourself in the highly mature professional tennis field, you also need a top-level training and rehabilitation system, as well as a non-stop competition system. In 2010, Wu Yixiang was less than 11 years old – an ordinary child just entering the fifth grade of primary school – and went to Spain to train and compete all year round.
The cost of overseas training competitions is shared by the Tennis Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sports, the Zhejiang Provincial Team and Wu Yixiang's parents, and the introduction of this policy is also thanks to the active struggle and exploration of Li Na, Zheng Jie, Yan Zi and other predecessors on the road of professionalism, and since 2009, they have received major policy support - in coaching, bonuses, and participation, the income belongs to the athletes and their teams, but 8% of the commercial development proceeds and 12% of the competition prize money must be handed over to the state; When faced with the Olympic Games, the Federation Cup and other competitions, athletes need to obey the arrangements of the tennis association and shoulder the responsibility of participating in the National Games for their provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. Since then, a large number of young players have benefited from this policy, and the speed of professionalization of Chinese tennis has accelerated.
Long-term training and competition abroad has allowed Wu Yixiang to integrate into the tennis circle dominated by European and American players since he was a teenager. In 2016, the British brokerage company GSC (Global Sporting Connections) signed Wu Yixiang, who was less than 17 years old at the time, after 1 year of contact. Before the 2016 US Open, Wu signed Nahum Garcia Sanchez, a full-time coach from Spain.
At the age of 17, Wu Yixiang competed in the China Tennis Grand Prix and swept his nine-year-old Zhang Zhi in the final to win the title. Since then, he has embarked on a journey to the US Open, harvesting the title of junior title worldwide, and once ranked No. 1 in the junior world.
At that time, he himself did not hide his ambition, "My goal is to play the top 100 in singles, but definitely not just the top 100!" ”
Everyone was expecting the talented teenager with great talent and opportunities to go further, but his competitive form suddenly declined since 2018, and after three years of the pandemic, he rarely appeared in the international arena. In March 2022, before his whirlwind generally kicked off the new season, his world ranking was only 1,869.
When the spotlight was back on him, the reporter asked him if injuries had bothered him in the past days, and he said that he didn't want to talk too much about it, which one for a professional player did not overcome many difficulties to stand on the court?
"Accept what happens!" He is more willing to share his feelings today, and in an interview with the ATP official website, he said that when he reached the top 100 in the world ranking and realized his childhood dream, he was happiest that his love for tennis was tested.
When he reached the top 100 in the world rankings, everyone noticed a phrase he wrote on social media: "I saw a butterfly flying over the ruins." His smile was always so bright in the arena, it was hard to imagine that the ruins of emptiness and despair had met his bright eyes.
"This year (2023) my goal is to break into the TOP30! I'm happier than ranking that I can enjoy it all, don't make winning my only goal, and when I can accept everything that happens, I can finally play better tennis! ”
"Better tennis" is calmer and more tenacious tennis, and the official Olympic website said that Wu Yixiang showed resilience and tenacity that did not match his age in the duel with Isner.
▲On October 08, 2015, 16-year-old Wu Yixiang conducted daily training in the tennis hall of Zhejiang Sports Vocational and Technical College Photo/Visual China
"We look at each other"
"Thank you for coming here to cheer for me, please continue to look forward to Chinese men's tennis, we will bring you more wonderful performances!" Wu Yixiang also specially thanked the fans with Chinese in his post-match speech.
After Li Na won two Grand Slams, Chinese men's tennis has been looking for a breakthrough, and in 2022, several new-generation men's singles players such as Wu Yixiang, Zhang Zhizhen and Shang Juncheng worked together to bring the international tennis world to the attention of the rise of the Chinese men's tennis team, and before they emerged, the world's highest ranking of Chinese men's tennis was outside the 200th.
▲On January 17, 2023, in the first round of the Australian Open men's singles in Melbourne, Australia, China's Zhang Zhizhen lost 2-3 to Sheldon of the United States, stopping the first round Photo/Xinhua News Agency
In October 2022, Zhang Zhizhen took the lead in breaking into the top 100 of the ATP world ranking, setting a historical breakthrough in the Chinese mainland men's tennis; Shang Juncheng was born in February 2005 and was only 17 years old when he reached the main draw of the Australian Open in January 2023, making him the youngest player in the Australian Open men's singles main draw.
▲On January 16, 2023, in the first round of the Australian Open men's singles in Melbourne, China's Shang Juncheng defeated Germany's Ott 3-1 to advance to the next round, becoming the first Chinese mainland male player in the open era to advance to the second round of the Australian Open Photo/Xinhua News Agency
In February 2023, Wu Yixiang won the runner-up in the Cleveland Challenger and jumped to 97th place in the world ranking. After winning the Dallas Tour, he became the forerunner of the new generation. Because of winning the championship in Dallas, Wu Yixiang received 250 points and a 112125 dollar bonus, ranking 58th. "Every game won by our younger generation of Chinese players, everything they experienced, is something that the previous generation did not do, I am now ranked at the top, every step I take is a new step for our Chinese tennis, I also have this responsibility, I hope that I can make more contributions to Chinese tennis step by step, down-to-earth."
▲In August 2022, in the US Open, Wu Yixiang became the first Chinese mainland male tennis player to win the main draw of the Grand Slam men's singles in the Open era, and later reached the round of 32, making history again Photo/Xinhua News Agency
In an interview with foreign reporters, Wu Yixiang said that the three brothers "pay attention to each other and look up to each other." The three of them maintain close contact, Zhang Zhizhen and Shang Juncheng's English name is Jerry, Wu Yixiang calls Zhang Zhizhen Big Jerry, Big Jerry trains in Europe, he and Little Jerry are usually in the United States, when he entered the TOP100, he received a congratulatory message from Zhang Zhizhen, he believes that Little Jerry will soon enter the top 100, and get the congratulations of his brothers, "I think we have always been together." Even though we have some different schedules, we always keep an eye on each other, we look up to each other. ”