Wang Xinyu scratched by Tomcat and falls out of TOP30, Zheng Qinwen aims for opening victory for Chinese golden flower team.

Many considered Wang Xinyu to have the best draw among all Chinese golden flowers in her debut at this Indian Wells 1000 tournament, yet this 30th seed ultimately faced a shocking upset, unexpectedly scratched by the "Tomcat," forcing the responsibility of securing the opening win for the Chinese golden flower team onto Zheng Qinwen.

Discussing this persistently delayed opening victory for the Chinese golden flower team at Indian Wells this year indeed brings a sense of melancholy.

Originally, this celebratory moment should have arrived on the first day of the qualifying matches, with Yuan Yue, highly regarded externally, expected to accomplish this mission first. However, against her previous defeated opponent Garf, Little Yue Yue unexpectedly turned a match deemed a sure win into a crushing defeat, allowing Garf to successfully revenge her Austin loss within a week, resulting in an opening defeat.

After the task of securing the opening win shifted to Zhang Shuai, unfortunately, Zhang's draw was too tough. Seeing the Ukrainian beauty Yastremska placed before her, many already exclaimed that completing this task by the 37-year-old Chinese veteran would be highly pressured. Indeed, Zhang Shuai did not succeed, so this responsibility transferred to China's second-ranked player Wang Xinyu.

Although Wang Xinyu's debut opponent Tomljanovic is no longer as formidable as before, and Wang seemed to have a good chance of winning, external concerns about her form persisted.

Starting from Doha, Wang Xinyu's excellent stable form after the new season began showed fluctuations. After withdrawing from Dubai and returning from the Austin 250 tournament, she directly suffered first-round exits in both singles and doubles.

Tomljanovic is a player who, once she takes control of the rhythm, possesses the ability to decisively defeat opponents. If Wang Xinyu's form hadn't recovered from her Austin slump, this match would likely be perilous, and the externally perceived good draw could instantly turn into a bad one.

When this key match concluded, the most undesirable scenario still occurred. Wang Xinyu resisted only 68 minutes before being swept away by Tomljanovic with a 6-3, 6-1 upset defeat, losing quite decisively.

Actually, Wang Xinyu initially brought great hope in the first set,率先 challenging Tomljanovic, forcing the Australian player to scramble on court, desperately saving break points, giving the impression that Wang was in fiery form.

At that time, some fans and netizens joked that after this match, the "Tomcat's" attempt to scratch Wang would fail, turning her directly into a "hello kitty."

However, unexpectedly, after Tomljanovic successfully saved all break points, a turning point in the match emerged, and that game became Wang Xinyu's best throughout the match. Subsequently, China's second-ranked player's form continuously declined like a tide, and after persisting for 40 minutes, she lost the first set 6-3 to the Australian player.

The second set was一度 considered Wang Xinyu's counterattack after rallying her spirits, expected to quickly retaliate against Tomljanovic. Yet, the excitement for a reversal刚刚 surfaced就被 Wang Xinyu's dream-like form彻底 suppressed.

Wang completely became a陪跑角色 in this set, allowing Tomljanovic to finish the battle in just 28 minutes, granting China's second-ranked player a first-round exit, creating a moderate upset.

After losing two sets to the "Tomcat," Wang Xinyu虽然 received $24,335 prize money, compensated monetarily, her ranking fell out of TOP30, with her即时 world ranking dropping to current 33rd place.

After the match, some直言, knowing Wang Xinyu might face challenges against Tomljanovic, they没想到 it ended with China's second-ranked player提前 collapsing, leaving with a "油条" (bagel),太 surprising.

Wang Xinyu's loss in this match was due not only to inadequate关键分把握能力 but also to her确实不佳 form.

Aside from wasting all 8 break points Wang obtained, her 66% first serve in rate and 58% first serve win rate, along with 35% second serve win rate, were直接 termed by some资深 fans as "全面低于巡回赛正常水平." Such performance naturally很难击败 a form-in Australian player, and thus复仇 for being swept by the "Tomcat" in the Nottingham 250 first round four years ago无从谈起.

Three Chinese golden flowers接连 failing to secure the opening win in Indian Wells singles left Zheng Qinwen, yet to appear, as the sole Chinese golden flower singles contender. Whether China's top player can弥补 the遗憾 left by Yuan Yue, Zhang Shuai, and Wang Xinyu is highly关注.

Zheng Qinwen's debut time is now set, at 7 AM Beijing time on March 8 against Croatian player Ruzic. This is the first career encounter between China's top player and the Croatian, an absolute遭遇战.

Ruzic employs a防守反击 style, while Zheng Qinwen plays攻式网球. Regarding this upcoming焦点大战, many直言,只要 Zheng's serve is在线, defeating the Croatian should be manageable,静候 the opening victory for the Chinese golden flower team. If delayed again, it can only be期待 in Miami.（Source: Tennis Home Author: Moon River's Starry Sky）