China: In a thrilling three-set final at the Dallas Open, Wu Yibing defeated John Isner to become the first person from China to win an ATP title.

23-year-old Wu, saved four match points and defeated American Isner, who has won 16 titles, in just under three hours, winning 6-7(4-7) 7-6(7-3) 7-6(14-12). No Chinese guy has ever won a top-10 opponent or advanced to a tour-level final until his run to the final.

The Hangzhou native had already achieved both of those feats when he defeated top seed and world number eight Taylor Fritz in the semifinals. The highest-ranked Chinese player in ATP history, he continued to break records on Monday by moving up the rankings to world number 58.

First title triumph ? after a triple tiebreak thriller ?

Wu secures his first ever tour title and becomes the first Chinese man to take a title in the open era ?@DALOpenTennis | #DalOpen pic.twitter.com/DRL4I8dA2S

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 12, 2023

“I made history here for my country and for my home. I’m very proud of myself and especially thanks to all the fans and my team who came here to support. I couldn’t do this without any of you guys,” stated Wu at the trophy ceremony.

“I don’t know how many match points I had, I’m sure it’s a lot. I swear I thought I won the match a few times … Sports can be brutal,” remarked Isner.

Wu, who was out by injury from March 2019 to January 2022, has won just six tour-level matches before this week. Wu had won just six tour-level matches prior to this week; he had missed the whole period from March 2019 to January 2022 due to injury.