Wu Yibing has become the first Chinese man in the Open Era to reach a Tour final after battling to a shock victory at the Dallas Open.
The 23-year-old fought back from a set down to oust top seed Taylor Fritz 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-4, who is currently ranked almost 90 places higher than him. After losing the opener despite having set points, Wu then had to fend off five break points in one game midway through the second set before later breaking Fritz to level the match. Then in the decider, it was a single break in his favour that guided him to victory.
“I remember I had two set points in the first set. I have to say I choked a little bit,” atptour.com quoted Wu as saying afterwards. “That forehand, I didn’t miss much, but I couldn’t make it. But in general I think I’m pretty relaxed.”
It is the first time in Wu’s career that he has beaten a top-10 player during what has been a historic week for him. Before reaching the final, he became only the second man from his country to reach the last four of an ATP Tour event and the first since Pan Bing in 1995.
“When I’m playing tonight, I wasn’t thinking about the score or winning or losing. I’m just trying to perform my best,” he said, before addressing the fans. “You guys are amazing, cheering for us every point. Thanks, guys!”
Earlier this month Wu, who won the 2017 US Open junior titles in both shingles and doubles, cracked the top 100 for the first time in his career to become only the second Chinese man to do so after Zhang Zhizhen. He has won four Challenger trophies so far in his career with three of those victories occurring last year.
Awaiting Wu in the Dallas final will be John Isner who also reached a milestone at the tournament by becoming the first player in the Open Era to have won a 500th Tour-level tiebreaker earlier this week. In his semi-final match, the world No.39 defeated JJ Wolf 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(4), after more than two-and-a-half hours of play.
“I saved a lot of break points with unreturnable serves. Without that I would have been dusted off the court 6-3, 6-4,” Isner said in his on-court interview. “So I’m of course very fortunate to have that weapon in my pocket, and I needed every bit of it today.
“It was an absolute battle, so I’m pretty tired. But I’m absolutely ecstatic to be in the final tomorrow here in Dallas.”
Dallas will be Isner’s 27th Tour final on American soil. In comparison, he has only reached the title match of four other events held outside of the country so far in his career.
The upcoming final will be the first Tour meeting between Wu and Isner.
