NAGOYA, Japan, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Despite battling a cold, China's Wu Yibing advanced to the men's singles final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games here on Friday, defeating Japan's Hayato Matsuoka 6-3, 6-2.
Wu said after the match that it was the second day of his illness. "My physical condition is actually worse than yesterday. My throat felt quite sore when I woke up today, and I also had a runny nose. But once I got into the match, I felt fine," Wu said.
Wu was broken early in the first set but quickly broke back to level at 3-3. He broke Matsuoka again in the eighth game before holding serve to close out the set 6-3.
In the second set, Wu broke serve in the third game when Matsuoka sent a return long. Wu broke his opponent again in the fifth game to extend his lead and went on to seal the victory.
"I was a little more consistent than my opponent today. On the key points, I made some small adjustments to disrupt his rhythm. I also changed my positioning when returning serve to put more pressure on him," Wu said.
"I handled the important points better. Even after building a lead in the second set, I stayed calm. I wanted to keep applying consistent pressure throughout the match," the third-seeded Chinese player added.
Wu will face Coleman Wong of Hong Kong, China, in the final.
The two have had a series of memorable encounters in recent years.
At the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, Wu lost to Wong in a grueling match lasting two hours and 48 minutes. Wu squandered five match points in the deciding-set tiebreak and was eliminated before the quarterfinals.
The pair met again in the semifinals of China's 15th National Games in 2025, where another tense tiebreak proved decisive. This time, Wu rallied to win 2-1 after two hours and 47 minutes.
"I lost to him at the last Asian Games on home soil, and eight years ago was also the last time I reached the Asian Games final. It feels like fate has brought us together again. I hope I can perform well tomorrow and win the gold medal," Wu said. ■
