Wang Xiyu and Zhang Shuai were both eliminated on the opening day of the Ningbo tournament, prompting netizens to say: the sisters lost in a ridiculously poor manner.

Once the first round of the Ningbo 500 tournament started, Wang Xiyu and Zhang Shuai both eliminated themselves in singles and doubles in a baffling manner, causing this sister duo to quickly become a hot topic online.

Wang Xiyu faced the Russian player Schneider in the first round, and it was widely believed she had drawn a very favorable match. In 2023 at the Guangzhou Open and again at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Wang had swept Schneider in straight sets twice, leading some fans and netizens to call her Schneider’s “little nemesis.” Moreover, Schneider had suffered three consecutive defeats during this year’s Asian season. Facing such an opponent in the first round, and with home court advantage, Wang was naturally expected to hand Schneider a third straight loss.

Just when everyone was happily snacking on apples or chocolate, eagerly waiting for Wang Xiyu to win and celebrate, the unexpected happened: Schneider took her revenge.

After the match, some fans and netizens bluntly commented in the live stream chat, “Wang’s performance was so embarrassing it gave me secondhand embarrassment.”

Wang Xiyu showed the dominant spirit of a leading player from the start against Schneider, who had beaten her twice before. This not only thrilled fans and netizens but completely overwhelmed the Russian player. When Wang surged ahead by breaking Schneider’s serve twice to lead 3-0 early in the first set, almost everyone believed the first set was hers without question.

Just as everyone predicted Wang would continue to dominate, potentially delivering a bagel or a breadstick set to Schneider, surprisingly, Wang suddenly lost her form while leading. As Schneider caught up and eventually won the first set 7-5, Wang was unable to escape the trouble she had gotten into.

Losing the first set wasn’t the end; there was still hope for the second set.

Some said that losing the first set after leading 3-0 was humiliating, but it would surely motivate Wang Xiyu to fight harder in the second set and show the world a renewed version of herself: “I’m still the leading player, and avenging myself on my home turf won’t be easy.”

When Wang took an early 2-0 lead in the second set, many viewers in the live stream firmly believed she was about to complete a strong comeback.

However, just as excitement rose, Wang quickly dashed everyone’s hopes by falling back into the same strange pattern of losing her form after gaining the lead.

This unexpected situation from Wang instantly gave Schneider the belief that the match could be decided in two sets.

While Wang was eager to reverse her fortunes, Schneider, relying on steady and consistent play, mounted a comeback from 1-3 down to win five consecutive games, closing the second set 6-3. In front of all the Chinese fans and netizens, Schneider declared her revenge in China successful, bringing their head-to-head record to 2-1 in her favor.

Many criticized Wang after the match, saying it was hard to accept. If she was simply outmatched or lost while trailing, that would be understandable, but to throw away two sets while holding winning positions was baffling. “If it weren’t for caring about the money, I’d want to smash my computer right now.”

After self-sabotaging, Wang Xiyu became the first Chinese singles star eliminated from this year’s Ningbo 500 tournament.

Following Wang Xiyu’s early singles exit at the Ningbo 500, Zhang Shuai, who was expected to perform well, also disappointed.

Zhang Shuai, paired with Vondrousova, faced the duo of Tang Qianhui and Eikeri. After splitting the first two sets, in the deciding set tiebreak, Zhang squandered four match points while leading 9-5, losing six straight points and ending her tournament abruptly.

After the match, some joked that Zhang’s focus clearly isn’t on doubles right now; otherwise, how could she waste all four match points without converting any? “It’s so frustrating it feels like needing a ventilator.”

Both Zhang Shuai and Wang Xiyu lost early in doubles and singles respectively, resulting in a first-round exit for both. Fans and netizens called these defeats a “major collapse for the Chinese women’s tennis team in Ningbo, losing in an absolutely ridiculous way.”

However, compared to the anger some fans felt over Wang’s loss—some even wanting to smash their computers—Zhang’s doubles defeat, though disappointing, was somewhat easier to accept since it was against Tang Qianhui’s team. Therefore, some people sent a message to Wang Xiyu after the match, saying that with her height, strength, and talent, if she keeps losing so inexplicably, when will she truly live up to the title of a prodigy? “You really need to reflect seriously; everyone is worried about you.”(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Moonlit Starry Sky)