Wikipedia - Wang Yafan

Wang Yafan (Chinese: 王雅繁; pinyin: Wáng Yǎfán; Mandarin pronunciation: [wǎŋ jà fǎn]; born 30 April 1994) is a Chinese tennis player. On 7 October 2019, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 47. She peaked at No. 49 in the doubles rankings on 15 February 2016.

In her career, she has won one singles title and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, along with one singles title and four doubles titles on the Challenger Tour. In addition, she won 16 singles and seven doubles tournaments on the ITF Circuit.

Playing for the China Fed Cup team, Wang has a win–loss record of 9–3, as of April 2024.

History

2014: WTA debut

Wang made her WTA Tour debut at the 2014 Shenzhen Open, partnering Zheng Jie in doubles. The pair won their first-round match against wildcards Sun Ziyue and Xu Shilin, and defeated third seeds Irina Buryachok and Oksana Kalashnikova, then lost to eventual champions Monica Niculescu and Klára Zakopalová in the semifinals.

In September 2014 at the Guangzhou International Open, Wang was given a wildcard into the singles main draw, and she advanced to the semifinals, upsetting Samantha Stosur in the first round, and qualifiers Petra Martić and Zhang Kailin along the way. She was knocked out by eventual champion Monica Niculescu.

2018: Breakthrough, Miami Open fourth round

Wang made her career breakthrough at the 2018 Miami Open, where she reached the fourth round as a qualifier, then lost to Angelique Kerber.

2019: First WTA Tour title, top 50 debut

Wang won her first ever WTA Tour singles title at the Mexican Open in Acapulco where she defeated Sofia Kenin in three sets, after being down a set and a break. As a result, she achieved her best world ranking of No. 49 on 4 March 2019.

At the Miami Open, she defeated Kristina Mladenovic in the first round. In the second round, she clinched her first victory against a top-10 player by defeating Elina Svitolina in straight sets. She then won against Danielle Collins in straight sets and reached the fourth round, but then lost to compatriot Wang Qiang in straight sets.

2023: Back to top 100

Ranked No. 114 at the US Open, after four years of absence, she qualified for the main draw and upset Caroline Garcia. As a result she returned to the top 100 in the rankings on 11 September 2023.

2024: Major third round

At the 2024 Australian Open, she reached the third round of a major for the first time in her career, defeating 22nd seed Sorana Cîrstea and Emma Raducanu. As a result, she returned to the top 80 in the rankings, on 29 January 2024.