Chinese players advance in Cincinnati

The qualifying rounds of the ATP 1000 and WTA 1000 Cincinnati tournaments have begun, with four Chinese Tennis Association players making their appearances. Among them, Wu Yibing, Bu Yunchaokete, and Yuan Yue successfully passed the first round of the qualifiers and advanced to the final qualifying round, while Zhu Lin was eliminated in the first round after being reversed despite winning the first set.

Yuan Yue was broken in her first service game of the opening set and trailed 0–3, facing an unfavorable situation. However, she quickly adjusted her form, broke her opponent’s serve twice in a row, won five consecutive games to overturn the deficit, and took the first set 6–4. In the second set, Yuan Yue broke serve in the fifth game and eventually took the set 6–4 as well, defeating her opponent 2–0.

Zhu Lin, after narrowly winning the first set 6–3, was reversed by her opponent, losing the next two sets 1–6, 1–6. Zhu Lin saved multiple break points at the start of the first set and achieved a 3–0 lead by securing the first break. Although her opponent broke back in the fifth game, Zhu Lin immediately responded with a break in the sixth to maintain her advantage. Ultimately, she saved several break points when serving for the set and took it 6–3. However, perhaps due to expending too much energy in the first set, Zhu Lin was dominated in the following two sets, with her opponent taking two consecutive 6–1 sets for the comeback, eliminating Zhu Lin and advancing to the final qualifying round.

In men’s singles, Bu Yunchaokete defeated his opponent 7–6(6), 6–4 to advance smoothly. In the first set, the two players exchanged breaks and eventually went to a tiebreak, where Bu Yunchaokete staged a comeback from a 2–5 deficit, winning the tiebreak 8–6 to take the first set. In the second set, Bu Yunchaokete broke serve first and maintained the advantage, winning the set 6–4 and claiming a 2–0 victory to move on.

Wu Yibing survived a three-set battle, defeating McDonald 7–6(7), 1–6, 7–5. The first set was closely contested, going all the way to a tiebreak, which Wu Yibing won 9–7 to take the opener. The second set was one-sided, with McDonald easily winning 6–1 to level the match. In the deciding set, Wu Yibing was broken at the start and trailed 0–2, but managed to break back and win three straight games to overcome the deficit. In the late stages of the set, McDonald held serve when facing elimination, but Wu Yibing withstood the pressure and saved break points to put the pressure back on his opponent. He then achieved a crucial break in the twelfth game to win the deciding set 7–5, ultimately taking the match 2–1 and advancing to the final qualifying round. Next, he will face third seed Faria for a spot in the main draw.