Wu Yibing wins the U.S. Open men's singles first round in New York, U.S., August 29, 2022. /CFP
China's Wu Yibing concluded his 2022 U.S. Open tour at the round of 32 against world No.1 Daniil Medvedev in New York on Friday.
Wu, 22, was crowned in both the singles and doubles events at the U.S. Open Boys' finals and became junior world No.1 in 2017.
When asked about the difference between his junior experience here and this year's trip after reaching the third round on Wednesday, Wu jokingly said, "It's the same press room. It's good memory, though."
"I'm happy that this time is the real tennis world. This is where all the juniors want to be. When you won the junior's here, you want to play the men's here," he added.
Wu Yibing (L) takes the title of the 2017 U.S. Open Boys' final in New York, U.S., September 10, 2017. /CFP
The coming-of-age story for Wu will continue, now that he has lit the hope for Chinese tennis enthusiasts when he made history as the first Chinese mainland male player to enter the main draw of a Grand Slam in the Open Era, and to make it this far.
Before he came under the spotlight in New York, Wu had to battle with multiple injuries and endure not only the pain but what was worse, the recoveries, when time was fleeting but he wasn't able to play, living through amounting doubts that were once expectations as a Chinese hopeful.
And yet, he refused to talk about his injuries after beating Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 in the first round.
"I don't like talking about injury details, because all players have injuries of some sort. The mental power to overcome physical pain is an essential element to competitions," Wu said.
Wu learnt to carefully pave his way back to the games. He pulled out of two ATP Challengers this season before the U.S. Open to make sure he would be at his best in New York.
"This is a part of my plan," he shared his thought in an exclusive interview with CGTN.
Wu surprised the world except for himself with his history-making performances in the past week.
Following his opening victory against Basilashvili, he went on to stun fellow qualifier Nuno Borges of Portugal in a five-set thriller, recovering from two sets down to clinch a 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win in 3 hours 47 minutes.
His debut at a major was hauled by defending champion Medvedev 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. Reflecting on his performance, Wu remained hopeful.
"I hope the next time I'm scheduled to play in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, it will be based on my ranking, not because of the ranking of someone I'm playing against. This is how I should be thinking now."