Yao Xinxin: Grand Slam debut "a little confused"

On May 19, Beijing time, the first day of the 2025 French Open tennis tournament was launched, and Yao Xinxin, who played in the Grand Slam qualifying tournament for the first time, lost 0-6/0-6 to former US Open champion Andreescu and missed the promotion.

Yao Xinxin, who participated in this year's French Open, collected three "firsts", this is her first appearance in a Grand Slam court, her first time on the court (Susan Lenglen) and her first time facing a Grand Slam champion.

After seeing the signing table and the schedule, the Chinese youngster was more nervous and apprehensive: "Because I have never played such a big event before, I was arranged in the stadium for the first time." Actually, I was still in a bit of a state on the court, but for me she (Andreescu) is a strong opponent, her temperament and self-confidence need to be learned, and she does a much better job of executing the tactics of the game than me. ”

"It's my first time playing on a big field and I can't let go of it. Although I tried my best to get rid of these problems on the field, I still didn't fully show my quality. ”

Yao Xinxin admitted that he was unfamiliar with playing clay matches: "I am not particularly confident on clay, because I have not played clay tournaments much in recent years, so I went to Slovakia and the Czech Republic to participate in clay tournaments this year to warm up for the French Open." This year's schedule is relatively small in Asia, which means I'm going to Europe a lot more, which is a bit difficult for me, especially on clay. ”

Talking about the feeling of participating in the Grand Slam for the first time, the Chinese teenager said: "Everyone is an excellent player, and the players who participate in the qualifiers are actually often encountered in ordinary games, so they are not very unfamiliar with this aspect of players. But the environment was a little bit unfamiliar to me, especially the first [Grand Slam] was on clay, which was more difficult for me. ”

"The Grand Slam has a lot of spectators and everyone is very focused on their game and training, which makes me even more nervous. I usually participate in ITF events, but I didn't expect to be placed on Susan Lenglen Stadium for the first Grand Slam, which is quite a span for me, and I can see that I still have a lot to improve. Of course, I'm really looking forward to playing in the Grand Slam again, but I haven't been doing very well in the ITF lately, so I still have to play slowly and find my form one step at a time. ”

(Text: Faye Wong, Photo: Li Jianyi)