China's Wang Xinyu finishes runner-up at WTA Berlin Open with grass-court breakthrough

BERLIN, June 22 (Xinhua) -- China's rising star Wang Xinyu capped off a milestone week at the WTA 500 Berlin Open with a runner-up finish on Sunday, following a fierce three-set battle against former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.

Despite falling in Sunday's final by 7-6 (10), 4-6, 6-2, the 23-year-old delivered a career-best performance on grass and signaled her growing presence among the game's elites.

Wang showed great composure and shot-making in a tightly contested opening set. She broke Vondrousova early with powerful forehands and aggressive court positioning. Though the Czech responded with her trademark variety and consistency, Wang had four set points in a tense tiebreaker before narrowly losing 12-10.

In the second set, Wang maintained her focus and tactical discipline, reducing unforced errors and once again leaning on her explosive forehand. She earned a crucial break in the 10th game to take the set 6-4.

Though fatigue began to show in the decider, Wang continued to fight, but Vondrousova's experience and clever use of slices proved decisive as she earned two key breaks and closed out the third set 6-2 to claim the title.

After the match, Wang thanked fans for their passionate support throughout the week, calling the full-house crowd in the final "amazing", and congratulated Vondrousova for her strong performance.

She acknowledged her own team's support and closed her speech with a lighthearted remark. "You know why I lost today? Because you [my team] sat in the other box," she joked, drawing laughter from the crowd. "It's been an unbelievable week for us. We'll keep building and look forward to the next one."

Wang's performance in Berlin was the first time she has reached a grass-court final. After navigating two rounds of qualifying, the Chinese ousted world No. 16 Daria Kasatkina in the first round, then stunned newly-crowned French Open champion and world No. 2 Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-3 for her first career victory against a top-two player.

In the quarterfinals, Wang took the first set 6-1 before Paula Badosa was forced to retire due to injury. Wang's subsequent 6-4, 6-1 win over Liudmila Samsonova in the semifinals marked her fourth consecutive victory over a top-20 opponent this week. ■