Zhu Lin caused a major upset by crafting a dramatic comedy full of twists, while Wang Xinyu expressed satisfaction with her performance despite losing to Yuan Yue.

After the second day of the Ningbo 500 event, the fact that the Chinese female players secured two victories in a single day was both surprising and exciting.

Guo Hanyu challenged Samsonova; Zhu Lin confronted Raducanu; Wang Xinyu fought against Yuan Yue! Among these three matches, apart from the internal Chinese battle between Wang and Yuan ensuring one Chinese player would reach round two, Guo and Zhu were not favored. Samsonova’s odds at 1.2, strongly overshadowing Guo’s 4.5, and Raducanu’s 1.17 far ahead of Zhu’s 5.0, clearly showed the significant skill gap, making victory very difficult.

When these two matches concluded, it was confirmed that Guo Hanyu was indeed unable to challenge Samsonova, ultimately being swept by the Russian star 6-2, 6-4.

However, Zhu Lin unexpectedly brought a surprise by overturning Raducanu in a manner that defied the bookmakers’ odds.

The match between Zhu Lin and the British player was full of twists and turns.

In the first set, the Chinese player lost 3-6. Although the score suggested Raducanu won comfortably, the set was anything but easy. Both players battled for a full 54 minutes, making it a test of stamina and willpower.

Because of this, before the second set began, fans and viewers in the live stream believed the bookmakers might have misjudged the odds, as Zhu Lin clearly had the ability to compete with Raducanu; otherwise, the first set wouldn’t have been such a prolonged struggle. Many boldly predicted that the climax of this drama would likely erupt in the second set.

People often say Zhu Lin is best at crafting dramas, and starting from the second set, as her racket turned into a magic pen, the fans’ predictions before the match proved accurate.

After Zhu Lin broke and held serve to take a 2-0 lead, the live stream erupted into cheers. However, the storyline woven by Zhu Lin and Raducanu afterwards was quite a rollercoaster for everyone’s nerves.

Raducanu quickly leveled the score at 2-2, then Zhu Lin surged ahead to 4-2, only for the British player to equalize again at 4-4. Just when everyone thought Zhu Lin’s early advantage might collapse, she swiftly closed the set 6-4, showcasing impressive scriptwriting skills.

Seeing such an intense back-and-forth in the first two sets, many anticipated another tug-of-war in the deciding set. Some humorously reminded everyone that after the emotional buildup of the first two sets, they could watch the final set more relaxed: “This is Lin’s style; if there’s no unexpected twist, how could she be a good dramatist?”

But the outcome of the deciding set truly exceeded everyone’s expectations.

If the first two sets saw Raducanu fiercely defending the odds set by bookmakers to avoid being embarrassed by Zhu Lin, she ultimately paid the price for that effort.

The British player fought so hard that she called multiple medical timeouts in the final set. Given Zhu Lin’s advantage in both momentum and score, everyone predicted Raducanu would inevitably fall victim to an upset.

When Zhu Lin sealed the final set at 6-1, no one was surprised that Raducanu ended up losing in a stunning reversal to the Chinese player.

After Raducanu packed up and left, many commented that her immediate priority should be to recover physically, as her body has repeatedly let her down at critical moments. Reaching the heights of her 2021 US Open glory again seems increasingly unlikely.

With this comeback victory over Raducanu, Zhu Lin earned over 110,000 RMB in prize money and boosted her world ranking from 219th to 190th, finally returning to the top 200 after a long struggle.

Compared to Zhu Lin’s rollercoaster-like Ningbo drama against Raducanu, the internal Chinese clash between Yuan Yue and Wang Xinyu was noticeably more straightforward.

Because the two are very familiar with each other, their match started aggressively from the first set with no cautious probing. Their performances matched the odds of 1.8 and 2.0 perfectly, making it a well-balanced contest.

In the end, Yuan Yue edged out Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-3 by excelling in key points, securing a spot in the Ningbo 500 round of 16.

After the match, Yuan Yue remained composed and not overly excited, admitting, “I only won one service game per set, but I was a bit luckier on crucial points today.”

Although Wang Xinyu is still struggling with consecutive losses, this defeat to Yuan Yue showed her positive mindset and satisfaction with her performance, unlike after her Wuhan loss when she cried from the court to the press conference. “Even though I lost, I felt I played positively and relaxed. This was the easiest and best match I’ve played recently. Everything is moving in a good direction for me.”

Next, both Zhu Lin and Yuan Yue face huge challenges: Zhu Lin will take on top seed Andreyeva, and Yuan Yue will face newly minted top-ten player Aleksandrova. Both matches are tough tests. Whether Zhu Lin can continue to create surprising dramas and whether Yuan Yue can hand Aleksandrova her first defeat since entering the elite ranks are key storylines to watch at Ningbo, generating great anticipation!(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Moonlight River’s Starry Sky)