Defeated his opponent and relegated to second place, but he has already created the best record in May

The tennis season is long, almost throughout the year, and during this time, there will always be people who are in a slump and the world rankings have dropped. For example, Chinese players such as Lu Jiajing, Lu Jingjing, and Liu Fangzhou, who have participated in Grand Slam qualifiers, can now only compete in the Challenge Tournament and the Hope Tournament. Still, there will be some of them who have a good record. One such Chinese player reached the final this week. So, who is the Chinese player? How did she fare in the final? Today, let this article take you to take a look.

The Chinese player is Ma Yexin, who won her first career Hope Championship title in Sri Lanka back in 2017. In the years since, Ma Yexin has been improving. Last season, she won her first career Grand Slam qualifier and tour. Unfortunately, due to various reasons, Ma Yexin's world ranking has dropped this year. Although she won her first Hope Championship of the 2025 season at the Osaka Hope in early April, it didn't help, as her world ranking fell to just under 260, leaving Ma Yexin drifting away from a Grand Slam qualifier.

After winning the championship, Ma Yexin did not achieve a decent record in the past month. She has only reached the quarterfinals once in the last week, which has kept Ma down the world rankings. Because of this situation, many fans think that she may become another injured Zhongyong. This week, Ma Yexin will play as the second seed in South Korea's Andong Hope.

The Chinese player was hit in the first round. Top seed Zheng Yushuang, who recently reached the final of the Hope Tournament, was swept out in the first round by South Korean qualifier Ku Y; The tournament's seventh seed Li Zongyu had to withdraw from the match due to injury after the score was tied in the first set; Ma Yexin and You Xiaodi, on the other hand, won the compatriot derby, and although they reached the second round, their victory was not convincing.

Fortunately, You Xiaodi defeated South Korean wild card Jeong B in the second round, allowing his opponent to win only five games and successfully reached the quarterfinals. And Ma Yexin also defeated South Korean qualifier Lee GS and also reached the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, facing the challenge of Japan's Shimizu Yingri, Ma Yexin showed no mercy and defeated her opponent completely, reaching the semifinals of the Hope Tournament for the second time this year. You Xiaodi, on the other hand, defeated the sixth seed and South Korea's Back D in two sets in a row under the unfavorable situation of losing one set first, and struggled to reach the semifinals.

In the semi-finals, the two Chinese players met in a narrow way. In this match, Ma Yexin defeated You Xiaodi in straight sets, winning the compatriot derby for the fifth time this year and reaching the final. In the final, Ma Yexin's opponent was Indonesia's first sister J Tjen. In the process of qualifying, the player has defeated the fourth seed Ayano Shimizu of Japan and the fifth seed Park so-hyun of South Korea.

In this game, despite Ma Yexin's best efforts, she still lost to her opponent. After losing to her opponent, Ma Yexin still created her best record in May. Not only that, but she has also risen in the world rankings. I believe that in the next game, Ma Yexin will play better, let's wait and see. That's it for today, and it will continue tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home Author: Yixin Jushi)