A rollercoaster ride! Wang Xinyu reaches her first hard-court final, with a Chinese night set for the WTA Auckland tournament.

On January 10th Beijing time, the 2026 WTA250 Auckland tournament held the women’s singles semifinals. Chinese player Wang Xinyu saved a match point in the second set and ultimately came back to defeat Filipino player Iera 5-7, 7-5, 6-4. This marks her second tour final since last year’s Berlin event and her first ever hard-court final.

Wang Xinyu (Photo: Visual China)

In this tournament, the 7th seed Wang Xinyu demonstrated excellent form, consecutively defeating McNally and Zarazua. After a three-set comeback and benefiting from an opponent’s retirement in the quarterfinals, she advanced to the semifinals. Her opponent, 20-year-old Filipino player Iera, who just started her tour career last year and reached the Miami 1000 semifinals, is a formidable competitor.

In the first set, Wang Xinyu broke serve multiple times and held her own to quickly build a 5-1 lead. However, her performance fluctuated afterward, allowing her opponent to stage a comeback and win the set 7-5.

At the start of the second set, Wang Xinyu once again broke serve early, but the match grew increasingly tense with both players exchanging service games. Near the end of the set, Iera held a match point, but Wang seized the opportunity to break her opponent’s serve and push the match into a deciding set.

Early in the final set, Iera experienced back muscle discomfort and took a medical timeout, which affected her side power on serves. Wang quickly took advantage, gaining a 4-0 lead. Although she faltered during her first match point service game by double-faulting and getting broken, her prior lead secured her a 6-4 victory in the final set, advancing her to the tournament final.

In the post-match interview, Wang Xinyu said, “I felt enormous pressure when I was leading by a big margin, even more than when I was behind. I’m very grateful to the fans who came out today; I’m happy to have won in the end.” When asked about her humorous interaction with fans during her opponent’s medical break, Wang joked, “Thanks to the gentleman and the lady who handed me nail clippers—I think they wanted me to relax a bit. See you in the final tomorrow!”

Wang Xinyu’s final opponent will be top seed Svitolina. Notably, the last day of the Auckland tournament will feature a Chinese night. In singles, Wang will aim for her first tour title. In doubles, a Chinese derby will take place as Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan defeated Ella and Jovic 7-5, 6-3 to reach the final, while the international pair and second seeds Guo Hanyu and Meladnovic advanced directly after their semifinal opponents retired.