Wu Yibing is a Chinese tennis player known for being the first Chinese man to win an ATP title in the Open Era at the 2023 Dallas Open. On 31 July 2023, he collapsed in the court due to illness while playing in a match at Citi Open in Washington.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Wu Yibing was born on Thursday, 14 October 1999Hangzhou, China. His zodiac sign is Libra. He started playing tennis when he was four years old. At the age of 12, he went to Beijing to take formal training for tennis at the Potter’s Wheel International Tennis Academy. In 2017, he joined the I.M.G. Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He has trained under coaches named Gerardo Azcurra and Marcos Baghdatis.
A childhood photograph of Wu Yibing
Physical Appearance
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Body Measurements (approx.): Chest: 40″, Waist: 32,” Biceps: 15″
Family
Parents & Siblings
His father’s name is Wu Kang. He was a boxer. His mother’s name is Wu Fang. There is not much information about his siblings.
Wife
He is unmarried.
Career
Juniors
In December 2016, Wu played at the Grade A junior event 2016 Orange Bowl, where he lost to Miomir Kecmanović in the final match. In 2017, he reached the semifinals in both boys’ singles and doubles at the Australian Open. In the same year, he won both the boys’ singles and doubles at the US Open, where he partnered with Hsu Yu-hsiou from Chinese Taipei. This made him the first Chinese male to win a Grand Slam title in junior tennis.
Wu Yibing while playing during the third round at Australian Open 2017
Mains
Chengdu Open 2017
Wu made his ATP debut at the 2017 Chengdu Open as a wildcard in September 2017.
Shanghai Masters
In October 2017, he made his Masters debut as a wildcard at the Shanghai Masters. In 2018, the player won his first ATP at the Shanghai Masters, defeating Li Zhe. In the second round of the same tournament, he won the first set by defeating Kei Nishikori.
Wu Yibing while playing at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament 2018
US Open 2022
In August 2022, he won his first-round match at the US Open, where he defeated the 31st seed, Nikoloz Basilashvili. This victory made him the first male Chinese player to win a match at the US Open in the Open era and a Grand Slam match in 63 years, before him, Mei Fu Chi achieved the same milestone at Wimbledon in 1959. In the second round of the same match, he defeated Nuno Borges in five sets and became the first Chinese male player to reach the third round of any Grand Slam event since Kho Sin-Kie achieved the feat at Wimbledon in 1946. He also became the first male Chinese player to reach the third round in the entire history of the tournament since 1881. After this, his career-high ranking reached World No. 131 on 12 September 2022. In the third round, he was defeated by World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev.
Wu Yibing while playing at the US Open 2022
Dallas Open 2023
In Dallas Open 2023, Wu won against Michael Mmoh in the first round. In the second round, he defeated third seed Denis Shapovalov and achieved one of the biggest victories of his career by reaching his first-ever ATP Tour-level quarterfinal. In the next round, Wu defeated Adrian Mannarino to reach an ATP Tour-level semifinal and became the second player from China to achieve this milestone. In the semifinals, he won against World No. 8 Taylor Fritz, becoming the first Chinese male player ever to beat a top 10-ranked player and to reach an ATP Tour-level final in the Open Era. Wu won the ATP title by defeating John Isner and became the first Chinese man to win an ATP title in the Open Era. It also propelled him to the highest ranking ever achieved by a Chinese player, entering the top 60 in the ATP Rankings on 13th February 2023, surpassing Zhang Zhizhen’s record.
Wu Yibing while playing at the Dallas Open 2023
Other Tournaments
In 2022, Wu won three Challenger titles in the US. He had back-to-back wins in July 2022 at tournaments held in Rome, Georgia, and Indianapolis, marking his achievement to reach a career-high ranking of No. 174 on 25th July 2022. With a total of four Challenger titles in his career, Wu became the most decorated Chinese player in the history of the circuit.
Wu Yibing during a tennis match
In 2023, Wu played in the Adelaide International, where he won against Ugo Humbert in the qualifying round but lost to Alexei Popyrin. In the 2023 Australian Open, he competed as a wildcard; however, he lost in the first round against Corentin Moutet. On 6 February 2023, the player entered the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings by reaching the World No. 97, after he reach the final in the Cleveland Challenger. This made him the second Chinese male player to achieve this milestone after Zhizhen Zhang who reached World No. 91 in 2022. In the 2023 BNP Paribas Open, he played as a wildcard and defeated Jaume Munar. Later, at the 2023 Miami Open, he secured another milestone by earning his first victory at a Masters event, beating Kyle Edmund.
Wu Yibing while playing at the 2023 Miami Open
In the Italian Open 2023, he won against Richard Gasquet in three sets on clay. In Geneva, Wu reached his first clay court quarterfinals after winning against Marc-Andrea Hüsler and Marco Cecchinato. However, he had to retire in the quarterfinals after he lost to Alexander Zverev. At the French Open, Wu was defeated by Roberto Bautista Agut and got eliminated in the first round.
Records
- He was ranked 1 in the ITF Junior Circuit after he won the boys’ singles title at the 2017 US Open.
- In 2017, he became the first Chinese male player to win a Grand Slam title in junior tennis after reaching the semifinals in both boys’ singles and doubles at the Australian Open, and winning the boys’ singles and doubles at the US Open.
- On 10 April 2023, he became the second-highest-ranked male Chinese player ever, after he was ranked as the 54th-best player in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Before him, Zhang Zhizhen set the record by being the highest-ranked male Chinese player.
- He became the first Chinese male tennis player to reach and win an ATP Tour-level singles final, after winning at the 2023 Dallas Open.
Wu Yibing with his trophy after winning at Dallas Open 2023
Favourites
- Sport (except tennis): NBA Basketball
- Basketball Player: Kevin Durant
Facts/Trivia
- By the end of the year 2022, Wu’s ATP rank reached 119, which was 1000 spots higher than his ranking at the end of the 2021 season.
- He made his debut at the Davis Cup match in 2017, where he represented China and won one match with no losses by defeating Jason Jung.
- In an interview, he revealed that he started playing tennis to lose his body weight, as he was obese when he was a child. He further added that initially, he decided to play badminton, but the net was too high for him so he settled on tennis.
- He loves to play video games in his leisure time.
- Wu has faced many injuries in his career including problems with his elbow, back, shoulder, and wrist. Due to these injuries, he was unable to compete in any tournaments from March 2019 until December 2021. In 2020, he underwent surgery to address his elbow issue.
- During the Citi Open in Washington on 31 July 2023, Wu collapsed on the court while leading 4-1 against Yosuke Watanuki. The player lose balance as he approached his chair and fell at a changeover. As a result, he had to retire from the match. In an interview, he talked about it and said,
There was something wrong with the food I ate last night – I even felt like I was losing my consciousness out there. I was better after my medical timeout, but it still affected my breathing. I feel good to play like I did, given my situation. I will go for a further check-up later.”
- Wu Yibing faced a similar incident that happened at the beginning of July 2023 at Wimbledon during his first-round match against Frances Tiafoe, where he also collapsed due to breathing issues. In that Wimbledon match, he managed to recover with medical help and continued playing, but he lost the match 6-7, 3-6, 4-6. [3]The Times of India
References
| ↑1, ↑2 | ATP Tour |
|---|---|
| ↑3 | The Times of India |
