Sports Desk
ISLAMABAD/LOS ANGELES: Wu Yibing made history on Sunday as he overcame a ferocious bombardment from John Isner to become the first Chinese man to claim an ATP Tour title at the Dallas Open.
The 23-year-old from Hangzhou saved four match points before ending the play 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (14/12) in just under three hours to clinch his maiden ATP win.
It came after a back-and-forth battle with the big-serving Isner, who had threatened to overwhelm the Chinese with a barrage of 44 aces during the contest.
Wu, who has climbed up the global rankings in the past year from 1,869th last March to 97th in the world, collapsed on the court following his victory.
John Isner falls short of clinching 17th ATP title
The 37-year-old Isner was unable to clinch his 17th title after squandering a match point in the second set when he led 30-40 and 6-5 on Wu’s serve.
The victory is another impressive milestone for Wu, who last year became the first player from China to reach the third round of the US Open.
His emergence in the professional ranks comes after a successful career as a junior, where he reached the semi-final of the Australian Open singles in 2017 before going on to win the boys’ singles title at the US Open later that year.
