The WTA500 Adelaide tournament is in full swing in 2025, with Chinese player Wang Xinyu participating and defeating German opponent Maria in the first round of qualifying! It's worth noting that Wang Xinyu, ranked 37th in the world, would typically have more than enough qualifications to enter the main draw of the WTA500 Adelaide tournament. However, surprisingly, Wang Xinyu did not receive a spot in the main draw and had to start from the qualifying rounds.
The reason for this is that the WTA500 Adelaide tournament is the last warm-up event before the Australian Open begins. Many top-ranked players have the idea of using matches as training to regain their competitive form, so they all participate in the WTA500 Adelaide tournament! As a result, Wang Xinyu, whose world ranking is slightly lower, was squeezed out of the main draw and could only reluctantly participate in the qualifying rounds. Even so, Wang Xinyu's performance did not disappoint, winning both sets with scores of 7-5 and 6-4 against German player Maria, successfully advancing to the next round of the competition.
In the first set, Maria quickly entered the game state at the beginning, breaking and holding serve to take a 2-0 lead! Wang Xinyu was not to be outdone, making timely adjustments and winning two consecutive games to tie the score at 2-2. Afterwards, both Wang Xinyu and Maria completed their respective holds, temporarily tying the score at 5-5. In the 11th game, Wang Xinyu gradually adapted to Maria's rhythm, breaking her opponent's serve to lead 6-5. Finally, Wang Xinyu also held serve in her own service game, taking the first set with a score of 7-5 and leading 1-0 in the overall score against Maria.
In the second set, having lost the first set, Maria knew she had to win the second set if she wanted to turn the match around! Therefore, Maria started very aggressively, not giving Wang Xinyu any time to react, directly creating a 4-1 scoring spree and completely suppressing Wang Xinyu. Facing the strong performance of Maria, Wang Xinyu was not to be outdone, making timely adjustments and directly turning on "cheat mode," winning five consecutive games to secure the match with a score of 6-4 and lock in victory. Thus, Wang Xinyu defeated Maria in both sets with scores of 7-5 and 6-4, advancing to the next round of the competition.
Although Maria lost in the first round of the qualifying tournament, her overall strength is not bad. She has even advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals and defeated former Chinese tennis number one Li Na in the past! This time, Maria lost to Wang Xinyu, which may not be solely due to technical reasons but may also be related to physical fitness, as she is now 37 years old and nearing the end of her career. Regardless, congratulations to Wang Xinyu for successfully completing the first round test and getting one step closer to advancing to the main draw.