China's Yuan Yue wins first WTA Tour title at ATX Open

Yuan Yue of China won her first Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour title after defeating her compatriot Wang Xiyu 6-4 and 7-6 (4) in the women's singles final at the ATX Open in Austin, Texas, on Sunday.

It took Yuan two hours and 13 minutes to secure this career-defining win. She led 5-2 in the second set, but Wang rallied with remarkable resilience to drag it into a tiebreak.

"I felt incredible," Yuan said after the match. "I enjoy this moment very much. I hope I can perform even better in the future."

"Winning this title convinced me that not only could I win one match, I could also perform well continuously," she added. "I hope that when I face difficulty next time, I can be as brave as I am now. I believe I can do that."

Sunday's match also became the first ATP Tour final between two Chinese players since Wang Qiang and Zheng Saisai competed against each other in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, in 2018 and the first such contest out of Asia since Zheng Jie and Li Na played each other in Estoril, Portugal, in 2006.

"She played really well in this tournament," Wang said of Yuan. "I hope we can work harder together in the future. We're friends and have known each other since we were children. I'm glad to see two Chinese players meet in the final, especially in a tournament outside China. I think it's a big progress for tennis development of the country. I did my best to play until the end of the match. I think it's a good sign in every way."

Yuan, 25, is one of China's rising stars in the tennis world. She is currently 64th in the world, three lower than her peak in January. She participated in the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024 but didn't get past the first round. Her best record in all four Grand Slam tournaments was reaching the third round at the U.S. Open in 2022.