ATP Tour: Wu Yinbing defeats Taylor Fritz to become first Chinese man to final

• Wu Yibing became the first Chinese player to reach an ATP Tour final.
• He defeated Taylor Fritz 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-4 in the Dallas Open quarterfinal.
• Wu was ranked No. 97 in the world at beginning of the week.

Wu Yibing defeated top-seeded American Taylor Fritz 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-4 in the Dallas Open quarterfinal to become the first Chinese player to reach an ATP Tour final in the Open Era.

In the top match, Wu will face John Isner, another American who overcame JJ Wolf on Saturday by scores of 3-6, 7-5, and 7-6(4). Isner will compete for his 17th tour-level championship in his 31st championship match in Wu’s inaugural final.

Wu, who was ranked No. 97 in the world at the beginning of the week, has climbed 21 spots to No. 76 in the ATP Live Rankings as a result of his recent performance. He is now poised to surpass Zhang Zhizhen, who is presently ranked at a career-high No. 1, to become the highest-ranked Chinese player in ATP history.

Wu saved five break points to hold for 2-2 in the second set after letting slip two set points at 5-4 in the first. Only one more would come his way, at 4-3 in the third, when he triumphed over Fritz’s line-clipping forehand in the semifinal match on Saturday.

“I remember I had two set points in the first set. I have to say I choked a little bit. That forehand, I didn’t miss much, but I couldn’t make it. But in general, I think I’m pretty relaxed,” Wu was quoted by the Dallas Open website.

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