Unheralded Chinese pulls off Masters upset
By Staff reporter |
October 13, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA'S Bai Yan, ranked 465 in the world, scored the second big upset of the Shanghai Rolex Masters yesterday when he outplayed world No. 30 Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.
The unheralded wildcard from Nanjing will be up against an even bigger challenge when he takes on world No. 4 Andy Murray in the second round.
On Monday, ninth seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain lost to unseeded Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 7-6 (4), 7-5.
With a thumping serve and a huge forehand, Bai was more than a match for the vastly experienced Czech.
"I would say this is my best match since I started playing tennis," Bai said. "Of course, he is the strongest player I have competed against. I'm very happy about it. I'm very excited. It's hard to control my feelings."
In the past few months, Bai hauled himself up the rankings ladder, moving up 277 places in the last three weeks by dint of winning two Futures titles in the early stepping stones of the professional circuit. That was enough to earn him a wildcard into the main draw in Shanghai.
Bai faces a daunting task in trying to unseat Murray. He has watched the Scot over the past six years, staying up in the night to watch his televised matches at the US Open and Wimbledon.
"He's a talented player, much better than me," Bai said.
"I hope to learn from him in our match, and I think it will be a good learning opportunity for me," the 21-year-old said.
The unheralded wildcard from Nanjing will be up against an even bigger challenge when he takes on world No. 4 Andy Murray in the second round.
On Monday, ninth seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain lost to unseeded Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands 7-6 (4), 7-5.
With a thumping serve and a huge forehand, Bai was more than a match for the vastly experienced Czech.
"I would say this is my best match since I started playing tennis," Bai said. "Of course, he is the strongest player I have competed against. I'm very happy about it. I'm very excited. It's hard to control my feelings."
In the past few months, Bai hauled himself up the rankings ladder, moving up 277 places in the last three weeks by dint of winning two Futures titles in the early stepping stones of the professional circuit. That was enough to earn him a wildcard into the main draw in Shanghai.
Bai faces a daunting task in trying to unseat Murray. He has watched the Scot over the past six years, staying up in the night to watch his televised matches at the US Open and Wimbledon.
"He's a talented player, much better than me," Bai said.
"I hope to learn from him in our match, and I think it will be a good learning opportunity for me," the 21-year-old said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
