Yuan Yue hits a return during her women's singles third round match against Jessica Pegula of the United States at the 2022 US Open, Sept. 3, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
As one of the new generation of Chinese tennis players, Yuan Yue made a breakthrough at the US Open by entering the women's singles third round.
By Zhu Hongxu, Li Bowen
BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- On the Center Court of the famous Arthur Ashe Stadium, 23-year-old Chinese tennis player Yuan Yue bent down to keep her balance. Her out-of-bounds groundstroke had just given a match point to her opponent Jessica Pegula, an American player ranked world No.8.
This was a women's singles third-round match at the 2022 US Open on September 3. While Yuan fell behind in the second set tiebreaker, the audience were expecting Pegula's victory. Under pressure, Yuan saved match point with her straight-line attack and then reversed to win the second set. The American audience applauded Yuan's performance, but the Chinese qualifier eventually lost 2-6, 7-6(6), 0-6.
Recalling the match against Pegula, Yuan's right shoulder and left leg had obvious medical protection measures. Injuries affected Yuan's reaction and agility, but she insisted: "Competing with injuries is a normal situation for pros to handle. A high-level player needs to know how you can win the game when you are not at your best."
Yuan Yue hits a return against Pegula. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
She admitted that there was a conspicuous gap in match comprehension and rhythm control.
Before entering Center Court, Yuan couldn't stop smiling in the tunnel. Pegula was curious about why she was laughing. Yuan answered honestly, "I'm a little bit nervous. It's my first time to play on Center Court." Pegula told Yuan that it was also her first match on Center Court.
Whether Yuan won a point or made a mistake, her face expressed an intensive focus on the court. As an athlete, the capacity to accept setbacks is Yuan's charisma: "I can accept both my good play and bad plays equally."
Yuan started playing tennis at age 10. This backward start made her become a unique athlete. Although she couldn't become the best player in youth tournaments, her flair and sweat brought her into professional tennis.
Yuan Yue competing at the Australian Open Junior Championships in 2015. (Photo courtesy of Yuan Yue)
"Before I made the breakthrough at the US Open, I had gone through a long, difficult term," she added. "An athlete's improvement is not a straight-line elevation. This process seems like a spiral-raising circle that contains up and down. I hope I can be braver when I face the same difficult period next time."
To stand on the high-level international court, Yuan has been training and playing abroad since October 2021. Due to multiple factors, Yuan had to travel overseas alone for training and competitions.
She needed to handle daily arrangements by herself, such as hotel reservations and routing schemes. "When I took public transportation to attend European tournaments, I had to learn the railway system carefully," Yuan said, adding that this experience of handling admin has also improved her mentality.
Yuan Yue in action during her women's singles first round victory against Amanda Anisimova of the United States at the 2022 Wimbledon Tennis Championship on June 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Han Yan)
In Yuan's scoring tactics, choosing a resolute straight-line attack takes a huge proportion of the match. This powerful tennis style also requires much for her racquet and mentality. She revealed that she once replaced 17 racquet strings in a seven-day tournament.
In the 2022 US Open, four Chinese female players - Zhang Shuai, Zheng Qinwen, Wang Xiyu along with Yuan, entered the women's singles third round, showing the progress of Chinese women's tennis.
"Through the efforts of Li Na and Zheng Jie, Chinese tennis has been improving in recent years. The improvement is not as easy as finishing one straight-line attack," said Yuan.
"Now the new generation of Chinese tennis players are getting more attention from the world, we should continue to improve and pass the tennis torch to the next generation in China."