On December 9, Beijing time, the 2023 CTA China Tour Finals ended the third round of the group stage, and former Chinese Jinhua sister Wang Qiang finally defeated Yuan Chengyi 6-2 6-1, and advanced to the semifinals with the first place in the group by virtue of goal difference, and will face the top seed You Xiaodi in the semifinals.
In this finals, the comeback of China's Golden Flower Wang Qiang is undoubtedly an unexpected thing for many fans. However, despite being the 12th player in the highest world ranking, Wang Qiang last competed in Tokyo in September 2022, so many people have expressed concerns about her competitive form.
In the first game of the group stage, Wang Qiang faced the Chinese Xiaohua Li Zongyu, ranked 361st in the world, although the opponent was very impulsive but not stable, so it was also a good stress test for Wang Qiang, who had been absent for a long time. In the end, after two sets of battle, Wang Qiang easily won 6-2 6-1, although it was quite easy to win from the score, but Wang Qiang's state is very different from the past when he played WTA, the baseline forehand and backhand ball quality is soft, and the movement ability is obviously slow.
In the second game of the group stage, Wang Qiang encountered trouble, facing the world No. 417 doubles player Guo Hanyu, although the opponent was not as good as Li Zongyu, but the opponent performed well in the second half of the season, and made great progress and menacing. In the end, after three sets of fierce battle, Wang Qiang wasted two match points and lost to Guo Hanyu 3-6 6-3 13-11 in the deciding set. Despite the loss, Wang Qiang's performance was significantly better than the first match, and her trademark defensive counterattacks and aggressiveness on the court made fans vaguely see her former peak form and have more expectations for her.
In the third match of the group stage, Wang Qiang's opponent was Yuan Chengyiyi, a small flower from Guangxi ranked 743rd in the world.
It can be seen from the information: 16-year-old Yuan Cheng Yiyi got a Nanning 25k wild card at the age of 14;In 2016, she defeated Lu Jiajing with a wild card to advance to the 50k second round, which made people unhopeful. Previously, she won the fourth leg of the ITF International Tennis Tour in Tianjin and the China Open Tennis Tour in Changzhou. When it comes to Yuan Chengyiyi, her explosiveness and baseline aggression are very impressive, but stability is still an issue that she needs to solve urgently.
In the first service game, although her serve was fast and accompanied by an ace, the baseline was too rough on the ball, and with a double fault, she was the first to be broken, 0-1. In the second game, Yuan Chengyiyi, who was behind, still tried to save the disadvantage with the bombardment of the bottom line, but although Wang Qiang's serve was not as fierce as hers, the landing point was aggressive, and the chasing serve also made it difficult for the opponent to attack directly, 2-0, Wang Qiang continued to lead.
The points between the points of the game ended in the electric light, Yuan Cheng Yiyi's attack was aggressive, Wang Qiang's defensive counterattack was also impressive, and Yuan Cheng Yiyi, who was scoreless, quickly fell behind 1-4. At this time, Yuan Chengyiyi, who had no way out, still did not choose to change his tactics, but continued to try to end the tug-of-war with a strong attack, but obviously this set of plays requires his own extremely good feel as a guarantee. In the end, in the service game, Wang Qiang hit two aces and took the lead 6-2!
In the second set, Yuan Chengyiyi's serving state was still not ideal, and she also made frequent mistakes in the bottom line draw, and soon fell into a passive situation again 0-2. In fact, I personally think that Yuan Chengyiyi can hit this quality ball at her current age is really amazing, but there are big problems with her serve throwing and forehand technical movements (too big a shot). In the game, many times her footsteps are not in place, and she relies on brute force to force her force, which will cause her to be more unstable in hitting the ball on the one hand, and it is not conducive to her ball control, on the other hand, brute force will make her career injuries increase in the future, and she may face a situation of reluctance to retire.
In the third game, with the improvement of Yuan Chengyi's first-serve goal rate, she finally held serve in the second set. In the fourth game, the two sides fell into a tug-of-war, but Yuan Chengyiyi's mistake made it difficult for her to accumulate an advantage, and Wang Qiang pulled the score apart, 3-1. After that, the game became Wang Qiang's one-man show, almost as long as she could send the ball back smoothly and patiently defend her bottom line, Yuan Chengyi would take the initiative to send mistakes, and the game was easily taken away by Wang Qiang 6-1 without suspense!
Winning this game is undoubtedly of great significance to Wang Qiang. The China Tour Finals is the first stop of Wang Qiang's comeback, and whether she can get outstanding results is crucial for her next comeback road. Her opponent in the semi-finals will be another Chinese flower, You Xiaodi.
Looking ahead to this match, this may be a different player from the previous three players, You Xiaodi has a good ability in terms of baseline changes and in front of the net, so Wang Qiang may need to prepare more and more fully!Let's keep cheering for her!(*Home of Tennis Author: Lu Xiaotian).