By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
At the start of U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit ITF World Tennis Tour event in Orange Park , Florida in mid April of this year, Wu Yibing had one ATP ranking point to his credit.
One.
He was ranked No. 1,749 in world on the ATP Rankings and had only played one ATP tournament in three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and injury.
Now, on August 26, 2022 – just four months later – he is in the main draw of the U.S. Open.
One of the most dramatic rises in men’s tennis history continued to crescendo at the season’s final Grand Slam tournament as Yibing qualified for his first Grand Slam tournament main draw by winning three matches in the qualifying tournament. Now ranked No. 176, Yibing is also the first man representing China to play in the main draw of men’s singles at the U.S. Open, alongside Zhizhen Zhang, who also advanced into the main draw via qualifying.
“I told people during the event that he would be top 50 in a year and I believe it,” said Mark Arrowsmith, the tournament director of the Vallencourt Construction /East West Partners Tennis Classic presented by Dream Finders Homes at Eagle Landing in Orange Park. “He was very professional and appreciative of the opportunity to finally be competing again.”
In Orange Park, Yibing used a protected ranking to get into the field and won five matches to win the title, defeating future Wimbledon junior finalist Michael Zheng of the United States in the final. That moved his ranking to No. 858. He moved into the top 400 to No. 332 by beating Jason Kubler in the final of the Orlando Challenger in Florida in June. He moved to No. 233 after winning the Rome Challenger in Georgia in July, beating Ben Shelton in the final. He then cracked the top 200 at No. 174 after winning the Indianapolis Challenger in late July.
Yibing was the No. 1 junior player in the world in 2017 and won the U.S. Open junior boys singles title that year. He was able to crack the top 300 within 12 months of his junior win in New York, but he underwent elbow surgery in 2020 and was not able to leave China during the pandemic, forcing him to only play in domestic Chinese events.
