Unheralded youngster overcomes rain delay to pass first-round test with flying colors

Bai Zhuoxuan served up a sweet antidote to what was generally a tough 24 hours of first-round action for Chinese players at Wimbledon.

Despite a frustrating rain delay that added an extra day to her match, the unheralded Bai admirably maintained her poise in her main-draw debut to beat Belgian veteran Ysaline Bonaventure in straight sets.

After taking the first set and racing into a 4-0 lead in the second, torrential rain interrupted Bai's flying start on Tuesday afternoon at Court 4. However, she returned just as focused and with the same solid baseline strokes when play resumed 24 hours later to close out the match, 7-6 (0), 6-1.

With her first career victory over a top-100 opponent, Bai, a 20-year-old native of Henan province, joined Wang Xinyu, who defeated Storm Hunter 6-3, 6-1 on Monday, as the remaining two Chinese — out of an initial seven — in the women's singles draw.

After defying long odds to win four matches in a row, including three qualifiers, Bai is full of confidence as she heads into a massive second-round challenge against last year's runner-up Ons Jabeur, Tunisia's world No 6.

"I am quite happy to get the win and still can't quite believe it," Bai said in her postmatch interview.

"This feels like a dream come true for me because this was the only major championship where I hadn't played at junior level. So I feel like I've made up for that now.

"I am really looking forward to playing her (Jabeur). First and foremost, I have to trust myself, overwise it's very hard to win. Last year in Indonesia I took a photo with her, and now I have a chance to play against her. That's amazing," said Bai, a girls' semifinalist at the 2020 Australian Open.

As perhaps the most obscure member of the seven-strong Chinese contingent in the women's draw, Bai's fine form at Wimbledon has not come completely out of the blue. The versatile baseliner has racked up 10 singles titles on the International Tennis Federation's circuit with an 88-22 record since she resumed international play in October 2021 amid the pandemic.

Never lacking fighting spirit, she relentlessly chased down every point during her 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) second-round qualifier win over Maria Lourdes Carle in a seesaw battle that lasted 3 hours and 5 minutes.

She admits that making the leap to the top of the women's game remains a steep learning curve for her.

"I like this tournament because it's the most important one in the world, and all the best players are here. I enjoy playing with them and trying to learn something from them," said Bai.

"To climb up to this standard by playing well at a few events is achievable, but staying here and maintaining that top level is a tougher challenge. I need more drills and more experience to be able to hang in there like all the top girls do."

Another young Chinese talent, Wang Xiyu, couldn't keep up with the pace of her 16-year-old Russian opponent Mirra Andreeva, losing 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in 2 hours and 25 minutes on Wednesday. That match was also pushed back by the rain in southwest London.

Three more established Chinese women — veteran Zhang Shuai, world No 25 Zheng Qinwen and reigning Thailand Open champion Zhu Lin — also bowed out in the opening round.

Wu upbeat

In the men's main draw, Wu Yibing's brave fight in a narrow defeat against world No 10 Frances Tiafoe won over fans on Wednesday.

Wu's scintillating, aggressive tennis was on full display during a 14-shot rally midway through the third set against Tiafoe. The pulsating sequence was later selected as 'Play of the Day' on the Wimbledon website.

Still, the American power hitter's kick serve and exceptional athleticism proved too much to handle for Wu, who also had to overcome a breathing problem that forced him to take a 10-minute medical timeout at the beginning of the second set.

Wu revealed in the postmatch interview that he fainted when he left the court for the timeout. However, he returned looking in good shape, hitting cross-court winners while moving well to defend the corners. Tiafoe, though, made more clutch winners to advance 7-6 (4),6-3, 6-4.

"Technically, I think I actually played quite well today," said Wu, the former US Open boys' champion who is ranked 62nd.

"The biggest gap was obviously the serve because he's a more powerful player than I am. But I think I could do better on the second serve and maybe volleys at the net," added Wu, who hit one more winner (39) while conceding four fewer (28) unforced errors than Tiafoe in the two-and-a-half-hour battle.

Although ending his grass season with only one win out of five matches, Wu said the narrowing gap between China's best and the top pros, underlined by the collective progress achieved by him, China's top ace Zhang Zhizhen and teen prospect Shang Juncheng, was encouraging enough for them to push for new breakthroughs.

"We've all done it and proved that it's possible," said the 23-year-old, who in February became the first Chinese man to win an ATP singles title when he triumphed in Dallas, Texas.

"But we shouldn't take it for granted. I hope our experiences can inspire the younger generation to dream bigger and work harder in pursuit of their own professional goals."

After being postponed twice due to the rain, the 52nd-ranked Zhang's opening-round match against Dutch world No 44 Botic van de Zandschulp was rescheduled for Thursday afternoon.

[email protected]