Wu Yibing becomes first Chinese man to reach the US Open third round since 1881
When he was young, Wu Yibing dreamt of becoming a professional tennis player. After a four-year courtside apprenticeship at No.1 Shanghai International Tennis, Wu made his international debut in 2010, making the quarterfinal losing to the top seed, Richard Gasquet, in straight sets.
A year later, he made even deeper moves. The 18-year-old from China, his parents’ first-born son, achieved his dream to win a US Open title in the men’s under-18s category, defeating No.11 seed and compatriot Gong Ma in the final.
This is what dreams can look like when your mother and father dream of you
Wu reached the final in two years, becoming the second player to reach the third round at a Major tournament since 1881. His mother was also young and her dreams were similar to her son’s.
“My mom and grandpa always had dreams to play tennis but I was born before they wanted to go pro,” Wu said. “I’ve heard my grandfather say this himself many times: ‘If you want to play tennis, you need to play at No.1 or No. 2 level’.”
Wu came to the US Open as a wild card player, the highest non-qualifier allowed into the tournament.
“I was a bit nervous before the match with Richard Gasquet, playing singles for the first time, but I think I played a very good match,” Wu said. “The match against Gong Ma in the quarterfinal was very exciting and I’d like to play against him again in my next match.”
Wu’s parents, who also have a long tennis history, took him and his younger sister on a two-week tour of Hong Kong and Macau. They are planning an international tour this summer.
Wu’s older sister, Wang, is a professional tennis player with J&S Enterprises in China’s Shenzhen.
“We are really happy to see my big sister in the tour now and we will talk to her about joining our tour,” Wu said. “She has played in