On the evening of April 18, Beijing time, in the just-concluded second-round matchup of the WTA 250 Rouen station, Jinhua Yuan Yue defeated French player Gracheva 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6) in three sets after 2 hours and 52 minutes of fierce battle, winning two consecutive victories on clay and advancing to the quarterfinals as desired. The third round will face former US Open champion Stevens.
Yuan Yue
Yuan Yue has improved rapidly this season, first winning five matches at the WTA 250 Austin in North America, including defeating Wang Xiyu in the final to win her first career tour title. Yuan Yue then came to WTA1000 Indian Wells, defeated masters including Zheng Qinwen, and finally lost to Grand Slam champion Gauff, won nine consecutive victories, and reached the quarterfinals. In just two weeks, the world rankings soared from 70th to 37th. Yuan Yue made Rouen her first clay tournament of the season and was the No. 4 seed. Yuan Yue wasted five match points in the first round before defeating Egypt's sister Sharif 6-3, 7-6(7) to win her first WTA-level clay main draw. Instant ranking of 36th.
Gracheva
Yuan Yue's opponent in this round is France's Gracheva, ranked 94th in the world. This is the second meeting between the two after Indian Wells this season, with Yuan Yue winning 2-0 and a 1-2 overall head-to-head record, marking the first time the two sides have met on clay.
In the first set, Gracheva served first. Both sides were relatively strong in their respective service games, holding serve in the first 8 games, 4-4. In the crucial 9th game, Yuan Yue seized the opportunity to break strongly, 5-4. In the 10th game, Yuan Yue's serve won the set, the serve was successful, and Yuan Yue took the lead 6-4.
In the second set, Gracheva continued to start. Yuan Yue maintained a good form, taking advantage of the opponent's unstable foothold, and broke the opponent's serve to take a 2-0 lead. Gracheva's form improved after that, and she broke back in the sixth game to take a 5-4 lead. In the 10th game, Yuan Yue had to save the serve, and Gracheva successfully cashed in the first match point at 40-30, 6-4 and colored.
In the deciding set, Gracheva continued to start. Yuan Yue broke serve twice in the opening game and took a 3-0 lead. But in the fourth game, Yuan Yue was successfully broken. After that, they held their serves, and Yuan Yue led 5-4. In the 10th game, Yuan Yue won the game on serve, Yuan Yue got the match point 40-30, but did not cash it, but was broken by the opponent, and the break was successful, 5-5. In the 11th game, Gracheva successfully held serve and overtook the score 6-5. In the 12th game, Yuan Yue had to hold serve, and Yuan Yue saved the match point and held serve with difficulty. 6-6 into the tie-break, Yuan Yue led 2-0 in the tie-break, and then there were too many unforced mistakes, 4-6 was taken by the opponent to get the match point, but Yuan Yue was very tenacious, scored 4 points in a row, and successfully won the tie-break 8-6.
Congratulations to Yuan Yue for advancing to the quarterfinals of the first clay tour! Yuan Yue's physical fitness and ability to play key balls still need to be strengthened. The third-round opponent will be No. 6 seed and former US Open champion Stevens. Stephens defeated Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-2 in the second round to advance to the quarterfinals.
It is worth mentioning that Yuan Yue is fighting on two fronts in this station, and his partner is Stevens, the opponent in the next round. Tonight, Yuan Yue will have a one-day doubles match, with the first round of doubles against the Morozhava/Zimmerman pair. Looking forward to Yuan Yue continuing to sing and forge ahead, double line play!