Wu Yibing becomes first Chinese man to reach the US Open third round since 1881
Wu Yibing has been a force on the men’s tour and one of the finest clay court players ever. Now, after winning her opening match against Yanina Wickmayer 6-2, 6-4 in a tight match Wednesday in a third round match at the US Open in Cincinnati, Wu has made her way to the third round at the Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 1881.
She’s a former world No. 2 who fell just short of the final four at Paris in 2016. She finished fourth at the 2017 Australian Open, before falling in the third round at Wimbledon two weeks later. She is now just three wins from a third round at a major.
Wu Yibing made history on Wednesday by becoming the first Chinese clay court player to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament since 1881, when the French Open champion Suzanne St. Romain made the same move in 1924.
The first Chinese female to win a Grand Slam tournament, Yibing beat Yanina Wickmayer in the third round on Wednesday at the U.S. Open in Cincinnati. She reached the third round at the Australian Open last month at the age of 29, also in Cincinnati. In 1881, another Chinese woman was the first to win a Grand Slam tournament when the Japanese woman, Satoko Takahashi, won the French Open at the age of 19.
Wu Yibing will play against American qualifier Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who is no slouch on the hard courts. The 23-year-old is 2-0 at the US Open.
US Open to host women’s doubles tournament for first time after a five-year absence
The U.S. Open has decided to move the women’s tennis tournament to April 10 in 2020. The first time it has hosted a women’s doubles event in the U.S. since 2006. The original plan was to have the event as part of the men’s doubles tournament, but was denied by the USTA. USTA CEO Keith Brooking, told the Associated Press, the decision was “not about the health of the men’s team at the U.S. Open.” The Women’s Tennis Association plans to return to the U.S. Open in 2019.
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