Wu Yibing made history on Sunday at the Dallas Open with a stunning comeback victory over John Isner in the championship match.

The young Chinese player came back from the brink, saving four championship points before defeating Isner 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 7-6(12) to become the first Chinese player to lift an ATP Tour trophy.

Prior to this week, no Chinese man had ever reached a tour-level final in the Open Era, nor had they defeated an opponent in the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Wu accomplished both of these in one go with his semi-final victory against World No. 8 Taylor Fritz in Dallas, and he continued his historic run in the final with a milestone victory for tennis in China.

“I’m very proud of myself,” said Wu at the trophy ceremony. “I made history for my country and for my home. I couldn’t have done it without my fans and my team, who came here to support me. I am grateful for all of you guys.”

Despite a strong start, Wu appeared to be losing steam against the powerful serving of Isner at the indoor ATP 250 event in Texas. At one point, Isner held championship point on Wu’s serve at 6-5, 30/40 in the second set, but Wu kept his cool and recovered, ultimately sealing a historic victory in a nail-biting deciding-set tie-break.

Wu’s combination of power and accuracy on his strikes from the baseline proved to be too much for Isner to handle. The young Chinese player finished the match with 41 winners, including seven aces, and he won all 13 points that he played at the net.

This impressive performance was all the more remarkable given that Wu had not competed on the ATP Tour from March 2019 to January 2022 due to a series of injuries and had notched only six tour-level wins prior to this week. Despite the lack of experience, Wu showed no sign of nerves throughout his run, defeating top players such as Michael Mmoh, third seed Denis Kapovalov, Adrian Mannarino, top seed Fritz, and Isner.

“He is an unbelievable ballstriker and a very good talent,” said Isner, who is now 16-15 in tour-level finals. “He plays every point the same, with no nerves. He gets a ball to hit, he hits it, and on this court, it’s hard to hit him a shot that he is uncomfortable with… He is a force to be reckoned with.”

Wu’s victory has been celebrated as a significant moment for tennis in China, and the young player will rise to a career-high World No. 58 just one week after becoming the second Chinese player to crack the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Leon Osamor