No three-set matches, no Yuan Yue! Chinese tennis star wins another marathon battle

The 2026 Australian Open has fully concluded, and in the first week following this season's opening Grand Slam, multiple tournaments have started simultaneously, with many Chinese players appearing in various draws. Among them, the WTA500 Abu Dhabi and WTA250 Cluj-Napoca events have drawn the most attention from Chinese fans.

This year, the top seed in Abu Dhabi is the defending champion Belinda Bencic, with Russian player Aleksandrova anchoring the bottom half of the draw. Seeds 3 through 8 include Tauson, Navarro, Samsonova, Fernandez, Ostapenko, and Badosa.

However, in the matches that have concluded, several top seeds have suffered upsets, with Navarro and Badosa both eliminated in the first two rounds. There are no Chinese players in the women's singles draw at Abu Dhabi this year, but in doubles, Chinese stars Zhang Shuai and Xu Yifan are competing.

Xu Yifan partnered with Samsonova but were knocked out in the first round by the Grand Slam champion duo Krajicek and Ostapenko. They exited early, earning only $6,800 in prize money. Currently, Xu Yifan holds the 38th spot in the women's doubles world rankings.

After winning the Australian Open, Zhang Shuai quickly arrived in Abu Dhabi to compete. She teams up with Buksha as the second seed in the doubles bottom half. Their first-round opponents are the Kichenok sisters, and fans hope Zhang can maintain her strong form this season.

Compared to Abu Dhabi, the lower-tier Cluj-Napoca tournament features several Chinese female players. The top eight seeds in the women's singles there are Raducanu, Cristian, Kostyia, Wang Xinyu, Potapova, Rudic, Danilovic, and Bondar.

Among them, fourth seed Wang Xinyu swept through qualifier Kvido in the first round. She will compete against Masarova in the second round for a spot in the quarterfinals.

In contrast, Yuan Yue’s path to advance has been much tougher. After a grueling three-set battle to defeat sixth seed Rudic in the first round, Yuan then endured over three hours in the second round against Soribes, eventually reversing the match with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory to secure a quarterfinal berth. Next, Yuan will face the winner between Siniakova and Cristian for a place in the semifinals.

It’s worth noting that Yuan Yue only entered the main draw at the last moment before the tournament began, so winning two consecutive matches is quite an achievement. After earning 54 valuable ranking points and $7,025 in prize money, Yuan’s current ranking has also improved.

Meanwhile, in the doubles event, Wang Xinyu and Zheng Saisai caused an upset by eliminating the top-seeded doubles team of Eikeri and Kempen in the first round. They will next compete against Bara and Gorghiu for a spot in the doubles semifinals.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Barbie)