On January 10, 2024, Beijing time, the 2024 WTA 250 Hobart Station ushered in the second round of the main event. In the just-concluded two matches of China's Jinhua, China's second sister Zhu Lin defeated America's Dolehide with an aggregate score of 5-7/6-3/6-4 2-1. Yuan Yue defeated compatriot Wang Xinyu 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the first quarterfinals of the new season.
In the first two races of the 2024 season so far, Zhu Lin's performance has been generally stable. In the second round of the first stop in Brisbane, Zhu Lin defeated former Australian Open runner-up Collins 1-6 6-3 7-6(7) to get the new season off to a good start. However, in the third round of 16-8 against world No. 2 Sabalenka, Zhu Lin suddenly lost power after breaking her opponent's first service game to lead 1-0 in the first set, losing 12 games in a row, and swallowing invisible double yolk eggs 1-6/0-6. Arriving in Hobart, Zhu Lin was seeded No. 3 in the tournament and saved two set points in the first set to defeat Bronzetti 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the round of 16, where she is ranked 33rd in the latest world rankings. The opponent in this round is Dole Hyde of the United States, ranked 44th in the world. In the 2023 season, she broke into the women's singles final of the WTA1000 Guadalajara station, and her strength is also quite strong. The two sides have played each other 3 times in their careers, and Zhu Lin has a slight advantage with 1 win and 2 losses.
In the first set, Zhu Lin was in an unstable state, made many mistakes, and did not have a high first-serve scoring rate. Dolehide served first and broke first in the fourth game to take a 4-1 lead. Zhu Lin completed the break back in the 7th game and chased the score to 4-4. But in the crucial 12th game, Zhu Lin had to hold the serve game and was broken by the opponent again, and Zhu Lin lost a set 5-7. In the second set, Dolehide continued to start. In the first 6 games, both sides held serve separately, 3-3. In the 7th game, Zhu Lin seized the opportunity to break serve first and took a 5-3 lead. In the 9th game, Dolehide had to hold serve, and after fierce competition between the two sides, Zhu Lin broke serve again. 6-3 to pull one back. In the deciding set, Zhu Lin started and was broken by her opponent, but Zhu Lin withstood the pressure and broke back in the 8th game. 4-4。 In the 9th game, Zhu Lin kept her key serve, and in the 10th game, Zhu Lin successfully broke serve when her opponent got the game point first, and won the deciding set 6-4.
In another derby match between China's Golden Flowers, the tournament's No. 4 seed Wang Xinyu faced Yuan Yue. In the first stop of the new season, in the Auckland Golden Flower Derby, Wang Xinyu lost to Wang Xiyu 1-2 in the tiebreaker and missed the top 8. Wang Xinyu met compatriot Yuan Yue again, and Yuan Yue played well in the last round, beating former US Open champion Stephens 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5) 2-1 on aggregate in three sets. Wang Xinyu is ranked 34th in the world and Yuan Yue is ranked 70th in the world.
In the first set, Yuan Yue took the lead in serving, and the two sides held serve in the first 11 games, and Yuan Yue led 6-5. In the 12th game, Wang Xinyu had to hold serve, but Yuan Yue seized the opportunity to break serve, and Yuan Yue took the next city 7-5. In the second set, Yuan Yue continued to start, holding serve in the first 6 games, 3-3. After that, Yuan Yue seized the opportunity to break serve in the 8th game, and finally took the next set 6-3. The big score is 2-0 to win the derby.
Congratulations to Zhu Lin and Yuan Yue for reaching the first top 8 of the new season! There are no top masters in Hobart, and I hope that the two Golden Flowers can take a step closer and win the first championship of the Chinese Golden Flower Tour in the new season. It is worth mentioning that Xiaohua Yuan Yue has made rapid progress since she cooperated with the husband of the former Jinhua Zheng Jie, and I hope that Xiaohua will grow up as soon as possible!