Wu Yibing becomes first Chinese man to reach the US Open third round since 1881
A 6-foot, 195-pound hard-throwing Chinese, Wu Yibing, has been the first-round victor at the US Open since the tournament began. The 23-year-old Wu crushed No. 11 seed Dustin Johnson 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 for his first ever win over a Top 10 player.
After an opening round that saw a rain delay, the men’s third round began under a cloudless sky at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
With the sun blazing down on Arthur Ashe Stadium on his first day at the US Open, Wawrinka began his third-round match with world No. 10 Sam Querrey 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, winning his first round match at the tournament in 14 years.
Wawrinka, who has won 11 consecutive Grand Slam singles finals with seven victories this season, reached his first career Grand Slam third round after defeating No. 15 seed Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-1.
The 22-year-old Wawrinka, who earned a record $1.72 million bonus from the tournament in advance of Monday’s third-round draw, will face No. 12 seed Feliciano Lopez at 4:30 pm ET on Monday. The winner of Wawrinka-Lopez will play No. 27 seed Sam Querrey in the first round.
Wawrinka-Lopez will serve as an 11th seed for the first time in their careers.
Wawrinka was the first Chinese to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament since Chinese tennis player Ding Junhui in the 1999 French Open.
Wawrinka was the first Chinese player to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament since Wawrinka’s friend and former roommate in Beijing, Li Bingbing in the 2000 Australian Open.
Wawrinka also became the first non-English-speaking man in the Open’s history to reach the third round. As a non-American, the three-time US Open champion will play for the first time in his career.
Lopez advanced to his first-ever third-round match at the US Open after beating No