At the WTA Berlin Open, 23-year-old Wang Xinyu from Shenzhen delivered a career-best performance on grass, ultimately finishing runner-up at the prestigious WTA 500 event on Sunday.
Wang opened the final against former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova with an aggressive display of forehands, breaking early and pushing the first set to a nail-biting tiebreak. Despite earning six set points, she narrowly dropped the tiebreak 12-10.
Showing resilience in the second set, Wang cut down on unforced errors and seized a decisive break in the 10th game to level the match 6-4. Her powerful court positioning and tactical discipline stood out as she forced Vondrousova onto the defensive.
Fatigue surfaced in the decider, but Wang fought through every rally. Vondrousova’s experience and deft slicing ultimately made the difference in the third set, as the Czech closed it out 6-2 to claim the title.
Despite the close loss, Wang’s runner-up finish marks a major milestone in her grass-court journey and signals her emergence among the sport’s elite. With this breakthrough, the young star from the Chinese mainland is set to carry momentum into the rest of the grass season and beyond.
Reference(s):
Wang finishes as runner-up at Berlin Open in grass-court breakthrough
cgtn.com
