The 2025 WTA season has started with a bang! In the first round of the Brisbane qualifying tournament, Chinese player Guo Hanyu made a substitute appearance and demonstrated her tenacity, achieving a remarkable comeback victory over world number 131, Lies, with scores of 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. This win allowed her to advance to the decisive round and set off the new year's first victory for Chinese tennis.
This competition opportunity was hard-won; due to the withdrawal of Hercog, Guo Hanyu was able to step onto the Brisbane court as a substitute. Currently ranked 540 in singles, Guo Hanyu focused on doubles during the 2024 season in an all-out effort to qualify for the Paris Olympics. After the Olympics, this dream-chasing girl returned to the singles arena, winning the runner-up title at the Fuzhou W50 event and successfully claiming the championship at the Qiandao Lake W35 event, showcasing her remarkable strength and potential.
As for Lies, she also has her own experiences in the tennis world, with her best performance in the four Grand Slams being the second round of last year's US Open. In the 2024 season, she was eliminated in the first round of the main draw at the French Open, US Open, and Wimbledon.
The match was full of ups and downs. In the first set, Guo Hanyu missed three break points and was broken once by her opponent, ultimately losing 3-6. However, she quickly adjusted her state, firing three aces in the second set and successfully converting three out of four break points, strongly returning with a 6-3 score to drag the match into the decisive set. In the decisive set, Guo Hanyu continued her good form, achieving three breaks and securing the victory with a 6-4 score, completing this thrilling comeback.
The entire match lasted 2 hours and 19 minutes, during which Guo Hanyu hit five aces, had a first serve percentage of 65%, a first serve winning rate of 60%, and successfully converted six out of thirteen break points. With this victory, she earned 13 points and $8,900 in prize money, instantly rising to No. 499 in the rankings, allowing us to see her limitless possibilities in the singles arena in the new season.