Wimbledon, July 1 (IANS) Chinese tennis player Duan Yingying, nicknamed ‘Duanvenport’ by her fans, said she hopes to win more matches after shocking last year’s finalist Eugenie Bouchard in the women’s singles first round of Wimbledon here.
“(Lindsay) Davenport has been my idol since I was a child. My coach always asked me to learn from her because we have similar height and size,” she said of the former World No.1 American, reports Xinhua.
Although Duan, who stands 1.86 metres, looks as strong as Davenport in her playing days, she is unlikely to emulate the achievement of the three-Major winner, who was World No.1 at 22. But Duan, 26, was satisfied with her first victory in a Grand Slam event.
“This is the best result in my career. I am very excited,” she said on Tuesday.
It was also the Chinese player’s first main draw appearance at the lone grass court Major. Two years ago, she entered the event when she was ranked a career-high No.104 but was forced to withdraw because her native Tianjin team had asked her to play the National Games instead.
“I have nothing to complain. I owed everything to the Tianjin team. I can’t say no when they need me,” she said.
Duan, ranked 117th in the world, had to beat three rivals in qualifying to set up a clash against the 12th-ranked Bouchard. Having never beaten a player ranked inside the top-50, Duan shocked the Canadian 7-6(3), 6-4 in an hour and 30 minutes on Tuesday.
It was Bouchard’s 12th loss in her past 14 matches and a result that will send her tumbling outside the world’s top 20.
Duan will next face Germany’s Tatjana Maria, who defeated Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 7-6(2), 7-5.
With fellow Chinese Zheng Saisai ousted by fifth seed Caroline Wozniachi of Denmark, Duan is now the only Chinese left in the singles event.
“The victory has given me a lot of confidence. I know the next match will be more difficult. I will try my best to give the Chinese fans a chance to enjoy tennis,” she said.