Edgy Wu falls to Simon in Shanghai Masters debut
Print Edition
CHINA’S rising young star Wu Yibing said nervousness affected his performance during his debut show at the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
The 17-year-old lost 3-6, 4-6 to Frenchman Gilles Simon in his first-round match yesterday at the Qizhong Tennis Center in suburban Minhang District.
“I know that Simon had not been having a good run recently, and thought I might have a chance today,” the Zhejiang Province-native told a post-game press conference. “But I failed to adapt to the environment and the court quick enough.”
Wu said Qizhong’s main stadium appeared to be a bit different compared to other courts on which he trained. Also, he said he was not able to concentrate enough during the match due to nervousness.
“His ball speed was fast. I tried to block other disturbances, and catch the chances when he was soft. I tried to return his serves deep and hang on with him on the baseline. I was not happy with my first serves today, which might have been affected by the amount of running around he forced me to do,” Wu said. “But for every match, the most important thing is that you have learned something.”
Wu entered the tournament as a wildcard after winning the ATP Challenger event in Shanghai last month. Wu, who turns 18 next Saturday, is the youngest player at this year’s Shanghai tournament and has been drawing a lot of attention, both at home and abroad, after winning the junior singles and doubles titles at the US Open last month.
“I don’t really care much about what other people think of me,” Wu said, displaying his maturity when asked if he feels any undue pressure because of the media and public attention. “Turning from youth to adult competitions is more about the mental condition. One should try to keep the same thinking mode.”
Also, Jared Donaldson scored an early birthday present in beating Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-4.
The 56th-ranked American, who turns 21 today, plans to celebrate his birthday by going to Disney Shanghai today, before experiencing a first career meeting against No. 1 Rafael Nadal of Spain in the second round.
Qizhong’s main stadium was unusually half packed for an early afternoon match scheduled at the beginning of the tournament thanks to Wu’s presence. The home crowd got behind Wu from the beginning, even though he lost his first two service games and was 0-4 down within 15 minutes. Wu then managed a break of his own to make it 4-1 before Simon claimed the first set 6-3 in 34 minutes.
Simon broke Wu in the third game of the second set to gain the upper hand. Both players held their serves for the rest of the match before the Frenchman sealed victory on the second of his three match points.
“He missed some points due to stress, but (played some) very good shots, especially from the baseline,” Simon said, giving high remarks to his opponent.
“He is only going to get better, and eventually hard to beat,” predicted the Frenchman, who will take on eighth seed David Goffin in the second round.
Simon made it to the semifinals last year before losing to eventual champion Andy Murray. In 2014, he reached the final before losing to Roger Federer.
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