Yuan maintains China's charge

Yuan Yue hailed the collective resurgence of Chinese women's tennis as a driving force behind her first WTA title win in Austin, Texas on Sunday.

A quiet, yet ambitious late bloomer among China's current crop of seven top-100 players, Yuan turned heads at the ATX Open by outlasting Wang Xiyu in straight sets in an all-Chinese final on Sunday to lift her first singles trophy on the professional tour.

The matchup was the first tour-level final between two female Chinese mainland players since Wang Qiang defeated Zheng Saisai at the 2018 Nanchang Open in East China's Jiangxi province, and the first outside Asia since retired legend Zheng Jie beat two-time major winner Li Na at the 2006 Estoril Open in Portugal.

Thrilled to be on the winning side of this slice of history, Yuan, a 25-year-old native of Jiangsu province, said she was proud of her own progress as well as the surging momentum of Chinese women's tennis as a whole.

"It's an unbelievable moment that I am enjoying very much. Not just winning this match but playing on a high level consistently made me believe that I can do this again," Yuan said of the breakthrough after battling past Wang Xiyu, 6-4, 7-6 (4), in two hours and 13 minutes at Westwood Country Club.

"What made it even more special was two Chinese players meeting in the final. I didn't expect that they would have a little ceremony before the match so when the national anthem played I felt really honored and serious.

"We got to hear it play loud and clear in a foreign country because we did pretty well at a tournament. That made us very proud," said Yuan, who now climbs to a career-high ranking of No 49.

It was just Yuan's second final appearance on the tour. She lost her first final in straight sets to world No 5 Jessica Pegula in Seoul in October. Yuan senses her mental fortitude has improved since that defeat.

"I missed a lot of match points because I was nervous which was normal," Yuan said of the tight closing stages of the match. "Then I tried to let go and forgive myself so I could focus on the next point. I feel like I did a good job of holding my nerve to close it out today."

Both players remain works in progress, but Wang, currently ranked 52nd, proved a resilient opponent late in the second set as she leaned on her big-match experience, honed by winning her first career title at last year's Guangzhou Open, to save six championship points before Yuan eventually converted her seventh chance to seal the victory in the tiebreak.

At the end of the match, the two friends and former doubles partners embraced at the net and exchanged words of encouragement, evoking memories of the "Golden Flowers "generation, led by Li and Zheng, over a decade ago.

The healthy competition among the Chinese girls is playing a pivotal role in driving her peers to reach new heights of their own, Yuan reckons.

"She put me under a lot of pressure during the match, so that forced me to bring more to the fight and to step up a gear when it mattered most. It's quite a positive competition and it pushes all of us to improve together," said Yuan, who celebrated the win with her new coach, Jose Hernandez, at their first tournament working together.

Having mainly focused on the ITF circuit before 2022, Yuan burst into the WTA limelight at the US Open two years ago, when she reached the third round as a qualifier to mark her best result at a major. She backed that up by battling into the main draw at last year's Wimbledon championship from qualifying, before finishing runner-up at the Korean Open and enjoying a run to the semifinals of the WTA250 Hobart International in January.

Wang, a lefty three years younger than Yuan, is also relishing the dynamics among China's younger generation, led by world No 8 Zheng Qinwen.

"To lose a final was a bit disappointing for sure but I still want to congratulate my friend for playing a great match," said Wang, who became the first Chinese girl to win a major junior singles title, at the 2018 US Open.

"This matchup was proof of the progress made by Chinese tennis and I left with a lot of positive energy from hanging in there at crucial moments in the final," she added.

Boasting a stronger forehand, Wang had more winners on the day, with 20 to Yuan's 14. However, Yuan had 12 fewer unforced errors than her opponent.

Later on Sunday, Olivia Gadecki of Australia and Olivia Nicholls of Britain defeated Katarzyna Kawa of Poland and Bibiane Schoofs of the Netherlands, 6-2, 6-4, to take the doubles crown.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn