Fate or coincidence, the Chinese men's singles team in Cincinnati started with a comeback and ended with a comeback.

Time flies, and the Cincinnati tournament held in the United States has already reached the third round. Unfortunately, with Yuan Yue's defeat, the journey of the Chinese tennis men's singles team here has come to an end. Whether it is fate or coincidence, their battles here began with a comeback and ended with a comeback. So, what exactly happened? Today, let this article take you on a journey to explore it.

The first player to take the court at the Cincinnati Masters was the Mongolian athlete Bu Yunchaokete. Back in 2022, he won six Hope Championships, becoming the undisputed king of the Hope tournaments that year; in the 2023 season, Bu Yunchaokete clinched his first Challenger title, becoming the Chinese male tennis player with the shortest time from achieving his first Challenger main draw victory to winning a Challenger title; last season, he made it to the semifinals of the tour twice and became the first Chinese male tennis player to reach the semifinals at the China Open. Many fans believe that given time, Bu Yunchaokete will achieve great things.

However, this season, his performance has often been less than satisfactory. Nevertheless, due to the physical issues of players like Shang Juncheng and Zhang Zhizhen, who have been away from the court, Bu Yunchaokete has become the top male tennis player in China. In the first round, his opponent was the Brazilian player Fonseca. In this match, Bu Yunchaokete won the first set 6-4, seeing a glimmer of victory. However, in the subsequent matches, Fonseca came back to win two sets in a row, defeating Bu Yunchaokete and advancing, while Bu Yunchaokete had to accept the disappointment of being eliminated.

Compared to Bu Yunchaokete, Shang Juncheng is undoubtedly much more well-known. Indeed, he is the first Chinese male tennis player born after 2005 to win a Challenger title and the first to win a tour title. However, due to health reasons, Shang Juncheng has spent most of this season on the sidelines and has not been able to compete on the tennis court. In the first round in Cincinnati, he faced the Argentine player Echeverri. In this match, Shang Juncheng also won the first set through a tiebreak. However, Echeverri came back to win two sets in a row, defeating Shang Juncheng. Just like that, before anyone realized, there were no Chinese male tennis players left in the Cincinnati Masters.

Recently, Zhu Lin, who reached the round of 16 at the Rogers Cup, appeared at the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Tennis Tournament. In the first round, her opponent was the Italian player Bronzetti. In the first set, Zhu Lin won the tiebreak, gaining an early advantage for advancement. However, an unbelievable scene unfolded. Bronzetti replicated the strategy, coming back to win two sets in a row, defeating the Chinese player and advancing with difficulty. Thus, in the first round, three Chinese players had already been reversed despite winning the first set.

Fortunately, Wang Xinyu and Yuan Yue both defeated their opponents, halting the losing streak of the Chinese team in singles. However, in the second round, Wang Xinyu suffered a complete defeat against the new French Open champion, American player Coco Gauff, failing to advance further. Yuan Yue, after a hard-fought three-set battle against her rival, Russian player Schneider, became the only remaining Chinese player in the singles draw. In the third round, her opponent was Romanian player Costea.

In the first set, Yuan Yue won the first set through a tiebreak; in the second set, while Yuan Yue was leading significantly, Costea mounted a comeback, winning four consecutive games to push the match into a deciding set; in the final set, after falling behind, Costea leveled the score and then took the lead. She did not give Yuan Yue another chance, sealing the victory.

Thus, from Bu Yunchaokete being eliminated after a comeback in his first match to Yuan Yue failing to seize a great opportunity to advance, the Chinese men's singles team has much to reflect on from their experience in Cincinnati. This concludes today's tennis story, and we will continue tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)