First Amendment:
New York (AFP) – Wu Yiping became the first Chinese tennis player to win a men’s singles match at a Grand Slam in 63 years by eliminating Nikoloz Basilashvili at the US Open on Monday.
Wu, ranked 174th in the ATP, stunned Georgian Basilashvili (35) 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 in the first round of the New York Grand Slam.
The Chinese tennis player, coached by Argentine Gerardo Azcura, had nine aces and 31 winners before knocking out Basilashvili, who has five ATP titles and reached the final of the Masters 1000 at Indian Wells last year.
Mi Fu Zhi was by far the last Chinese tennis player to win a match at a “major” tournament, which was achieved at Wimbledon in 1959.
At the US Open, no Chinese tennis player has won a singles match since Cheng Guy in 1935.
Wu, 22, came from the playoffs and was the 2017 Junior New York Champion.
His career was affected by injuries that kept him out of competition between March 2019 and January 2022.
His compatriot Zhizhen Zhang tried to follow in Wu’s footsteps but fell to Dutchman Tim van Reethoven 3-6, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (11/9), 6-1, 6-4.
© 2022 AFP
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