It’s the tennis surprise of the week: in the semi-finals in Dallas, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, Wu Yibing, 97th player in the world, overthrew the American Taylor Fritz, 8th in the world and seeded number 1 (6- 7 [3], 7-5, 6-4). It is the greatest victory of the career of the young Chinese, 23, but also a unique feat in the history of his country, of which no male representative had ever reached the final of an ATP tournament.
After his victories over Denis Shapovalov, seeded No. 3 and Adrian Mannarino, seeded No. 8, Wu will try on Sunday to continue a dream week, facing in the final against another American, John Isner, for the title. . For that, the Chinese will have to keep a cool head and leave the story aside as he did in the half, against Fritz. “When I played today, I didn’t focus on the score or the win. I just tried to do my best,” he said in his on-court interview after finishing the match on two of his 34 game winners.
A jump in the rankings to come
Defeated in a 58-minute marathon first set, Wu had to erase five break points in the fourth game of the second set, fight to hold his serve at 5-4, break Fritz at 5-5 to finally win the set on his faceoff. Less suspense in the third set during which Wu seized his opponent’s serve in the fifth game to earn the first victory of his career against a player in the world’s top 10.
Thanks to his career in Dallas, Wu should also become the highest ranked Chinese in ATP history by far surpassing Zhang Zhizhen, current 91st in the world. But she still has room to reach the level of Li Na, world No. 2 in 2014 and winner of two Grand Slams on the women’s circuit. In the final, he will face Isner, qualified for his 31st ATP final thanks to his service and a 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) victory over his compatriot JJ Wolf.