Starting from a comeback to ultimately being overturned, Zhou Yi suffered defeat but still secured a wildcard for the Shanghai Masters.

Every year, before the Shanghai Masters starts, the Shanghai Challenger takes place. According to custom, the top-performing Chinese male tennis player at the Shanghai Challenger is awarded a wildcard for the Shanghai Masters. While the US Open is heating up this week, the Shanghai Challenger is also underway in full force. So, how exactly did the Chinese male players perform in this event? Who will finally be granted the wildcard? This article will take you through it today.

Due to low world rankings, Zhang Linghao, Zhang Tianhui, Wang Aoran, Liu Hanyi, Zeng Yaojie, and Zhu Shixun had to start from the qualifiers. In the first qualifying round, Zhang Linghao, Zhang Tianhui, Liu Hanyi, and Zhu Shixun were all decisively defeated by their opponents; although Wang Aoran pushed his opponent to a tiebreak, he ultimately lost due to the skill gap; Zeng Yaojie, after a tough three-set battle against Japanese player Matsuda Ryuki, emerged victorious, preserving the last shred of honor for Chinese men’s tennis. In the final qualifying round, Zeng Yaojie convincingly defeated Japanese player Moriya Hiroki, becoming the only Chinese male player to break through from the qualifiers in these two weeks.

In the main draw's first round, Zeng Yaojie gave his all but was swept aside by the tournament’s fourth seed, Australian player Tomich. Despite this, he still deserves praise. Veteran Bai Yan was blanked by Taiwanese qualifier Huang Tsung-Hao, perhaps signaling that it may be time for him to retire.

Cui Jie and Xiao Lin’ang were both swept out by their opponents, unable to advance further. Mongolian wildcard player Terigele won his first match, briefly showing hope of progressing. However, in the following rounds, Australian player Yassika came back from behind by winning two consecutive sets to overturn Terigele.

Sun Fajing, who reached the Challenger finals twice this year, was arguably the best-performing Chinese player this round, as he swept past the tournament’s fifth seed, Australian player McCabe, advancing smoothly.

Zhou Yi, after losing the first set, won the second via tiebreak to push the match into a decider. In the final set, leading in score, Japanese player Nishikoga Yoshihito retired. Thus, Zhou Yi and Sun Fajing became the only two Chinese male players to reach the second round of the Shanghai Challenger. The wildcard for the Shanghai Masters will be decided between these two players.

In the second round, Zhou Yi faced Japanese qualifier Tokuda Renta and allowed him only three games throughout, advancing comfortably to the quarterfinals. Sun Fajing took the first set against Yassika but unfortunately lost the next two sets. Notably, in the deciding set, Sun Fajing was ahead in score but failed to close out the match, which was somewhat regrettable.

In the quarterfinals, Zhou Yi’s opponent was Taiwanese player Hsu Yu-Hsiou. Zhou Yi took the first set 6-4. However, in the second set, he was broken and dragged into a deciding set by his opponent.

In the final set, despite having match point, Zhou Yi could not maintain his lead and was pushed into a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, he again failed to hold his advantage and was overturned by his opponent. Nevertheless, this was Zhou Yi’s first set win in the quarterfinals of a home Challenger. Moreover, he also reached a final in an overseas Challenger this year, showing notable progress.

Thus, Zhou Yi earned the Shanghai Masters wildcard thanks to his quarterfinal run at the Shanghai Challenger. Hopefully, he will achieve good results in the upcoming tournament. That wraps up today’s tennis story; more to come tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)