On February 12, in the ATP250 Dallas men's singles final, China's Wu Yixiang won the championship, becoming the first Chinese mainland player to win the ATP Tour singles title.
Many of the posts that professional players post on social media are in the hands of agents or PR teams. There is no risk in the text pictures, and we concentrate on creating various characters; But while strangling all kinds of risks in the cradle, it often stifles individuality in the invisible.
Wu Yixiang was different, he refused to be "robbed". "IC, Weibo, IP card, I have to have a password" - please make up Fan Wei's hilarious interpretation by yourself.
In mid-February, he won the first ATP Tour singles title in the history of Chinese tennis at the Dallas Open, and Wu Yixiang captioned the winning picture on Weibo with the text "The bigger the wind and waves, the more expensive the fish", and also circled @crazy official Wei; The day before, he won the fourth consecutive game to reach the final, and the copywriter was "one step, two steps, three steps and four steps looking at the sky", worthy of Jay Chou's loyal fans. At last year's US Open, he became the first Grand Slam men's singles round of 32 in Chinese tennis history, and his heart voice was "see a butterfly, fly over the ruins"; Participating in the Davis Cup team competition with his teammates on the national team, his phrase "gathering is a fire, scattering is full of stars" rhymes long.
At the end of last year, when Wu Yixiang was nominated as the ATP Comeback Player of the Year, he once lamented, "ATP, you know the best comeback." Wu Yixiang, you know how to play terriers. He's really good at it.
Seeing a butterfly flying over the ruins – doesn't this also sum up Wu Yiyang's tennis career so far?
In 2017, when he won the US Open junior men's singles and doubles title, and immediately returned to China to win the ATP Shanghai Challenge, he not only proved his talent beyond his peers, but also demonstrated his ability to survive in the adult jungle world. The expectation of 1.4 billion people is a heavy pressure; After all, in the past few decades of the Open Championship era, there has never been a mainland male player who has entered the world's top 100, and no one has been able to achieve a singles victory in the four Grand Slams.
But who could have predicted that due to serious injuries, major surgeries and the epidemic, Yibing Wu, the Chinese name that the world once expected, disappeared from the international arena for 3 years, and did not have a chance to make a comeback until last year. From the world ranking of more than 1,800 in March last year to the 58th place in the ATP in Chinese tennis history after winning the Dallas Open, this is the rocket speed that shook the international tennis world, but only Wu Yixiang understood how he survived the gray days of more than 1,000 days, and how he flew over the ruins after tearing down the reconstruction.
And the most valuable thing is precisely this gray life experience, which did not lay a gray background for Wu Yiyang, but gave him a new perspective on tennis and life. In a live interview at the Dallas Open, he said: "It was also a unique life experience that made me more mature and made me learn patience and acceptance. Now that I think about it, it actually helps to play better tennis today. "It really makes people sigh that all the gifts given by fate are marked with a price; And the tribulations that fate gives you can actually be gifts given secretly.
In the darkest moment of life, Wu Yixiang is not only entangled in self-doubt, but also faces doubts, ridicule and even attacks from the outside world. To say that Wu Yixiang is a person who knows how to play terriers, he is also a person who has had "black terriers".
Because the former foreign teacher broke the news that there were differences with Wu Yixiang's family in terms of training methods, Wu Yixiang earned the long-standing nickname "Ma Baonan". and because he once picked up his clothes in a game to reveal a whole piece of abs covered in fat, he was ridiculed by tennis fans across the country.
"Of course, I see some of the voices of me and my family, after all, the Internet is so developed, I can't turn a blind eye. Fortunately, I can naturally see these things lightly, and I am willing to communicate with everyone more. Everyone stayed up late to watch the game to cheer me on, and I was also very moved. "Just as he is good at changing lines on the field, Wu Yixiang off the field is also very good at directing dialogue in his favor; As these words are, quite a good feeling, no wonder many of his fans are directly "passers-by turn fans" after watching his interview or live broadcast.
It is necessary to show readers who do not pay much attention to tennis the value of Wu Yixiang's championship. The last Chinese mainland player to reach the last four singles on the ATP Tour was Pan Bing in 1995. This is a 28-year wait and breakthrough, and Wu Yixiang defeated in Dallas, including the world's top 10 star Fritz, the world's top 30 expert Shapovalov, and the 2.08 meter giant Isner who issued 44 aces in the final.
Over the years, China has introduced and hosted high-level men's tournaments including the Masters Cup, the Shanghai Masters and the China Open, but the international tennis community has been waiting for China to produce a homegrown star. Today, Wu Yixiang and Zhang Zhizhen have both entered the world's top 100, and another former teenager, the world's number one businessman, has also reached the 160th place in the world ranking at the age of only 18.
It can be expected that Chinese male tennis players will increasingly join hands with international big names and appear in fashion magazines to show their ability to "get out of the loop". Relying on such a huge market as China, they will have no money. No wonder some fans joked after Wu Yixiang made a major breakthrough this time: "There is not much time left for sponsors." ”
After experiencing pain and silence, Wu Yixiang ushered in flowers and applause. But it is precisely because of that pain and silence that today's flowers and applause are more connotative, and Wu Yixiang can remain calmer. "It's just that I'm getting more attention than the average person because I'm in this sport; Back in the room, I was just a normal person, and there was nothing to show off. ”
Wu Yixiang won the title, and he finally made China a country with an ATP Tour title. At the award ceremony, Wu Yixiang said, "I am proud of my country and myself. Later, he asked to speak in Chinese, "Thank you Chinese fans, please continue to look forward to our men's tennis, we will bring you more wonderful performances." ”
Wu Yixiang, very Chinese and very international. He has a heavy past, and it does not prevent him from starting again easily. This is Wu Yiyang's story - for those who love sports, what we love is this sport and the emotion and strength that these people can bring us.
"I saw a butterfly flying over the ruins". Yes, if you say that Phoenix Nirvana is too heavy. Butterflies, is a good intention, break into a butterfly, brilliant and light.
Written by: Zhang Bendou
25 years tennis media person, China's most influential tennis journalist,
Winner of ATP Best Media Contribution Award, only member of ITWA International Tennis Journalists Association in China.