Wu Yibing's return to the TOP100 is forced to pause, netizens point out the reason for the top player's defeat: too tired

After losing in straight sets to Italian player Cobolli, Wu Yibing also left Acapulco with great regret.

The excellent competitive form and remarkable match resilience he displayed in the first round by upsetting Norway's top player Ruud made Wu Yibing the biggest favorite to advance when he met Cobolli in the quarterfinals. In the odds set by bookmakers, China's top player was favored at 1.62 to 1, surpassing the Italian's odds of 2.3 to 1.

Another reason Wu Yibing was highly favored is that the top title contender in the upper half of the draw, Zverev, had already been eliminated early. With this formidable opponent gone, whoever remained in the draw had a chance to win the title, which naturally provided different motivation.

Just as everyone was expecting Wu Yibing to achieve a major breakthrough in the 500-level tournament and celebrate his first semifinal appearance, after battling Cobolli for 1 hour and 35 minutes, China's top player was ultimately stopped by the Italian at the quarterfinal stage, missing the chance to make new career history at the 500-level event.

This match had a very distinct characteristic: Wu Yibing dominated the offense, while Cobolli mainly focused on defense, looking for opportunities to launch counterattacks.

The first set was the essence of the entire match, with both players executing offense and defense to near perfection. Who would gain the upper hand depended on who performed more steadily at crucial moments. In this regard, Cobolli clearly did better; otherwise, he wouldn't have emerged victorious from the intensely contested tiebreak.

What was particularly frustrating about this match was that Wu Yibing seemed to completely collapse in the second set, watching helplessly as Cobolli closed it out 6-1, leaving him with no choice but to wear his disappointment on his face.

After the match, some asked: Did Wu Yibing play poorly? Otherwise, why did he end up losing the set so decisively?

In fact, Wu Yibing did not play poorly; he was just slightly lacking in handling and seizing key points.

For example, in the twelfth game of the first set, Wu Yibing had two set points on Cobolli's serve but squandered both. Even during the first-set tiebreak, the Italian gave Wu Yibing chances to take the lead and finish the set, but China's top player still missed those opportunities.

Although the scoreline of the second set looked very lopsided, and even gave the impression that China's top player was easily overpowered, it wasn't so much that Cobolli played exceptionally well, but rather that Wu Yibing appeared somewhat fatigued at critical moments. Otherwise, it would have been hard to predict the final outcome.

Although Wu Yibing lost his first service game in the second set, Cobolli gave him a chance to level the score in the third game, which he failed to seize. A similar opportunity arose in the seventh game; the Italian again gave China's top player a chance, and again it was missed. If Wu Yibing had capitalized on both these chances, as one netizen put it, given Cobolli's inconsistent and unimpressive first-serve performance, China's top player might have staged a comeback. Even if he had ultimately lost, he wouldn't have exited so embarrassingly with a lopsided score.

Of course, regarding Wu Yibing's loss to Cobolli, many still believe China's top player was simply too tired. From qualifying to the main draw, Wu Yibing played five consecutive matches, and in his three main-draw matches, he fought through four tiebreaks. Even if he were made of iron, such a grueling schedule would take its toll, let alone a flesh-and-blood athlete.

It was precisely because his physical stamina faltered at crucial moments that his ability to seize opportunities declined. Additionally, Cobolli's heavy-spin shots increased the difficulty for Wu Yibing on returns, making it almost inevitable that chances slipped away right before his eyes.

When discussing Wu Yibing's physical condition, some even noted that his fitness alarm had already sounded in the second round against Japanese player Shimabukuro; otherwise, he wouldn't have allowed the Japanese player to force a second-set tiebreak. In their view, if Shimabukuro had won that second-set tiebreak, given Wu Yibing's concerning physical state at the time, it's uncertain whether China's top player could have prevailed in a potential three-set battle.

Before facing Cobolli, Wu Yibing was only 44 points away from returning to the TOP100—just one victory away. Now, after losing to the Italian, Wu Yibing's return to the TOP100 is forced to pause, and he also missed his first chance to reach the semifinals of a 500-level tournament. It's truly a great pity, and he can only continue striving in upcoming matches.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Moon River's Starry Sky)