Wu & Zhang Make Chinese History. They Qualify For US Open
Wu & Zhang Make Chinese History. They Qualify For US Open: In the US Open, no Chinese man had competed in the main draw in the Open Era. This year, there are two representatives from China.
Wu Yibing and Zhang Zhizhen had a journey through qualifying. Both earned their way into the main draw on the 26th of August 2022. They had their victories on a rainy day at Flushing Meadows.
Wu had been the 2017 US Open boys’ singles champion. He was the first to advance when he thrashed Frenchman Corentin Moutet 7-6(5), 6-2. This was his first attempt to qualify for a major.
“Of course I am happy. I am happy to be back here playing here in a major event since 2017, when I won here. It is pretty special for me, but I am just trying to play my tennis, show the people or myself that I still can play,” Wu said. “It has been a tough few years for me. I really suffered from injuries and Covid in China. It seems like I can still play a little bit of tennis.”
“I am happy about what I did here. I love the people here, the crowd. Many Chinese people came to support, I love it.”
Wu returned to court. He was in the spectator crowd to watch his friend, Zhang, oust Zizou Bergs 6-2, 6-4.
“For him, it’s easy because he won the juniors here. Five years he didn’t lose a match at the US Open!” Zhang said with a laugh. “For me, I was surprised I passed the qualies because it is my first time here of course. I was playing quite good on clay courts after grass. I didn’t expect that I can pass here.”
Before the Open Era, the only Chinese men who managed to compete in the US Open main draw were Kong Paul in 1924, Cheng Guy in 1935 and Choy Wai-Chuen in 1940 and 1941. This is the first time, after the three Chinese legends, these two Chinese men will be seen competing in the tournament’s main draw in the same year.
German Maximilian Marterer extended his US Open qualifying winning streak to nine earlier in the day when he took down Italian Riccardo Bonadio 6-4, 6-3 in just 68 minutes. In this way, he secured a spot in the main draw. Marterer, 27, played and got qualified for the year’s final major in 2017 and 2021. Now, he has his focus on getting past the first round at Flushing Meadows for the first time. The lefty also advanced through the qualifying round and reached the Australian Open and Wimbledon main draws this season.
Norbert Gombos had been waiting patiently for his chance to reach the main draw. The rain halted his attempt in serving out his final qualifying round match with Frenchman Hugo Grenier at 5-3 in the final set. When play resumed the Slovakian held his nerve and qualified for his third major of the season, winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. He had failed in four previous attempts to win through qualifying in New York. Gombos had been a direct entrant in the main draw in 2017, 2020, and 2021.
Christopher Eubanks got qualified for the second consecutive year after he rallied from a set down to defeat Italian Raul Brancaccio 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. The former Georgia Tech standout walks into his first Grand Slam main draw of 2022 (sixth overall).
Another American, Brandon Holt, managed to defeat Dimitar Kuzmanov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and got qualified for his first major main draw. Holt, the son of WTA legend Tracy Austin, slipped three match points before the second rain delay of his match. But he returned to Court 11 and finished the job on his fifth match point.
Former World No. 33 Argentine Federico Delbonis required three sets in back-to-back days to reach the main draw. This included a third-round victory Friday over Dutchman Jesper De Jong 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-4.