He knocked out Isner, Fritz and Shapovalov to win his first title in Dallas at the hands of Gerardo Azcurra, an Argentine trainer.
Exactly one year ago, with the ranking update after the Dallas ATP 250the Chinese Wu Yibing it appeared in position 1086 of the world classification. This Monday, after beating John Isner in three tiebreaks and consecrate himself in the American tournament, he rose 39 positions and reached his best historical position (58th).
He overcame the powerful serves of the giant Isner, powered by his 2.08 meter height, and collected four match points before lifting his first title on the big circuit (he won four Challengers). Trained by the Argentine Gerardo Azcurra, left on the way to a Top 10 as Taylor Fritz, to the ever threatening Denis Shapovalov and to the experienced Adrian Mannarino, in addition to the debut with the local Mmoh. A dream week.
Upon receiving his trophy, among all the thanks, he recognized the work of Azcurra: “He helps me a lot, he gives me positive advice to grow. It’s great to work with him and with my whole team”, said the tennis player who gave China its first ATP title in the men’s singles modality.
He is 23 years old and with this trophy he confirms what he promised in the Juniors days, when he was champion of the junior US Open in 2017 after beating Argentina in the final Axel Geller. As often happens, he suffered the adaptation to professionalism but this week he managed to make the leap he had been looking for and is positioned as a name to keep in mind for the future.
That year, when he established himself at Flushing Meadows at the age of 17, IMG offered him a contract to take the reins of his career, just as the same multinational did with Rafael Nadal y Roger Federer, to mention some of the most emblematic cases. They were aware of the talent that is now beginning to show on the ATP circuit.
Born in Hangzhou on October 14, 1999, Wu Yibing said he would like to celebrate the victory with his family, whom he has not been able to see for a year due to the coronavirus situation in his country. “I can not enter”, he argues. A curiosity: his first sport, as a child, was not tennis. It was badminton, very popular in Asia. However, he had to change for a singular reason: the net was too high. Something that would not be an impediment now, since at some point he hit the growth spurt and reached meter 83.
Your reference is Yao Ming, the best Chinese basketball player in history, who shone in the NBA for ten seasons with the jersey of Houston Rockets. Without a great basketball tradition in China, the 2.29-meter giant. managed to succeed. Wu dreams of doing something similar in tennis. “I am happy above all for having made history in my country. I hope this victory helps the new generations. I have to stay healthy because I am sure that more successes will come”, pondered.
It also recognizes Kevin Durant like his childhood idol: “My first memory of a basketball game was the 2012 NBA finals between Oklahoma and Miami. That’s where I discovered Durant. I love his staging, you never know what he feels. I identify a bit with him on the track. He’s smart and doesn’t do nonsense.”
In addition, still from Dallas, he left a pearl to meet this young man who wants to fulfill everything that is expected of him. He says that he likes to watch cooking programs and try to replicate recipes that he sees there, a way to distract himself after training, and he confesses that he doesn’t like parties and that he only listens to Asian music.
china grows
Along with Wu, Juncheng Shang He is another of the Chinese tennis players who promise to give something to talk about on the ATP circuit. He turned 18 on February 2 and during the last Australian Open, Still 17, he became the first Chinese tennis player to achieve a main draw victory in the first Grand Slam of the season. Like Wu, Shang is also trained by an Argentine, Dante Bottini.
“It’s huge for Chinese men’s tennis. We had really good players on the women’s side, but honestly not big names on the men.” commented Shang after passing the qualy and beating the German in the first round Oscar Otte.
Months ago, he fired as his coach Marcelo Rios and started working with Bottini. Although the reasons for their breakup were not clear, the tennis player made it clear that he did not like the ways of the Chino. “For me and my family, the most important thing is to be a good person, to respect others. It’s the most important thing I want to show on and off the pitch, and with Marcelo I don’t think that was being expressed one hundred percent.. It is a pity that it did not work, ”he explained to the magazine Clay.
“He plays very easy, but he doesn’t get the fuck out (he doesn’t make an effort). For me, a professional trains two and a half hours in the morning and two and a half hours in the afternoon, more physical. He wakes up two hours after 12 noon… They have another culture. Any pain we stop. The hueón (guy) advances five steps and goes back 10”, shot the Chilean former number 1 in the world in statements to the newspaper La Tercera de Chile.
