Surprise package Yuan keeps hitting new heights

Meet Yuan Yue: China's new wonder girl who is turning heads at the Tennis Paradise.

From a tearful early exit at a home event on her 24th birthday last year to reaching the quarterfinals at a top WTA tournament, Yuan's meteoric rise over the past six months — plus some intriguing stories off the court — has captivated the tennis world at this week's BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, where she stole the show on Wednesday by stunning Russia's 11th seed Daria Kasatkina.

The victory marked Yuan's best run at a WTA1000 tournament. Next up for the quiet yet ambitious baseliner is a last-eight clash against local favorite and world No 3 Coco Gauff on Friday morning (Beijing time).

"I am extremely happy today, not just because I won but more for believing in myself and hanging in there when I was feeling so tired, physically and mentally," the 25-year-old Yuan said after coming back from a set down to upset Kasatkina 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, in two and a half hours.

"She is a much higher-ranked opponent, while I had nothing to lose. So why not give it all when I am already standing on the biggest stage of my career? I had no pressure," said Yuan, who arrived at Indian Wells with a career-high ranking of No 49 after lifting her first WTA singles trophy in Austin, Texas.

Ranked outside the top 100 at the end of last year, Yuan showed some signs early this season that 2024 might be the takeoff she's been longing for by fighting into the semifinals of a WTA 250 tournament in Hobart, Australia as a qualifier in January.

Now with nine straight wins since Austin, achieved under the guidance of new coach Jose Hernandez-Fernandez, Yuan has become China's second highest-ranked woman behind No 8 Zheng Qinwen.

So far this week she's banked $185,000 in prize money, and next week is guaranteed a place in the world's top 40.

Hernandez-Fernandez celebrated Yuan's win with fist-pumps — and who could blame him after enjoying such unexpected success with his new client in such a short time working together?

In an interview with Break Point, Hernandez-Fernandez, a coach who had never worked with a pro before, revealed the extent to which the linkup was a major leap of faith on Yuan's part.

"We met on Sunday at breakfast, and the following Sunday we were lifting the title," the Dominican said of his first week coaching Yuan at Austin.

"Chance? Coincidence? I don't know, I believe in these things a lot," added Hernandez-Fernandez, who accepted Yuan's offer through another Chinese coach he met a year and a half ago at an ITF event in Kenya.

"I give all the credit to her, especially for her behavior, she was always very receptive. From that talk I noticed a lot more confidence, as if we were a real team, not just a person who came to train her.

"Can you imagine investing financially in a coach you don't know? Maybe fate rewarded her for that, I don't know.

"All the risks she accepted pushed her to this success, I just accompanied her by giving her my support and all my positive energy. If I contributed even 0.1 percent, I'm already happy."

Yuan's post-match speech in Indian Wells on Wednesday also showed how quickly the pair have bonded, with the player thanking her new coach and inviting the crowd to wish him happy birthday.

"All my respect and gratitude to her for blindly trusting a person like me, for opening her mind and exploring this new opportunity," said Hernandez-Fernandez, who turned 34 on Wednesday.

Having mainly focused on the ITF circuit before 2022, Yuan burst into the WTA limelight at the US Open two years ago, when she reached the third round as a qualifier to mark her best result at a major.

She backed that up by battling into the main draw at last year's Wimbledon championship from qualifying.

However, the brutal nature of professional tennis slowed her down with a series of early exits in the fall, highlighted by her opening-round defeat to Ukrainian Kateryna Baindl in Ningbo, Zhejiang province in September.

A tearful Yuan tried to put on a brave face after that loss, asking everyone at her post-match news conference to "remember how I look now" so that they could eventually see how she would come back stronger "step by step".

Less than half a year later, she has made good on that pledge, and now looks to be better equipped than ever to shoot for even higher goals.

"Life is about ups and downs, not just in tennis. I might have momentum in my favor now but that doesn't guarantee it will be all smooth sailing ahead," said Yuan.

"I won't be complacent when winning and I won't let my confidence drop even when I lose. I will just stay focused on the present and stay positive."

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn