WIMBLEDON – Wang Xiyu (王曦雨) and Wang Xinyu (王欣瑜) look nothing alike, nor do the Chinese characters that make up their first names.
Their features are completely different. Xinyu is a righty, has a long braid, and plays with Babolat. Xiyu is a lefty, has the barest wisp of a pony tail and plays with Yonex.
Even the supplemental advertising patches on their Nike outfits are different.
Xinyu has an easy, everpresent smile. Xiyu is a more serious sort.
But as they rise up the rankings – perhaps the next wave of Chinese women players to make a mark on the WTA Tour – they are going to be confused for one another.
Their first names sound nearly identical (and are spelled similarly in English characters, except for one extra letter in Xinyu’s name). Worse, tournaments stats and drawsheets so often only have first initials instead of first names. Or just last names, period.
Xinyu, 16, (ranked No. 4 in the world in the juniors) and 17-year-old Xiyu (ranked No. 12) take the court Friday in separate Wimbledon junior girls’ semifinals.
And, later, they will team up for the junior girls’ doubles semifinal.
The pair has rarely teamed up for doubles. In fact, the only other time they played together was for Roehampton/Wimbledon a year ago.
The last time they met in the juniors, Xinyu was the No. 1 seed and got the “X.” in front of her last name. When they met in 2016, Xiyu was the No. 1 seed and got the “X.’
Confused yet?
Who’s better? Tough to tell
Xinyu, six months younger, has the higher junior ranking. She is currently ranked No. 461 in singles and No. 351 in doubles on the WTA Tour. She won the Asia-Pacific wild card and made her Slam debut at the Australian Open this year, and has played the ITF circuit full time this year, except for the junior Grand Slams.
She has a Croatian coach, Aleksandar Slovic.
Xiyu, who turned 17 in March, also has played only the junior Slams and is at No. 381 in singles and No. 364 in doubles – both career highs this week.
She has two doubles titles at the $25,000 ITF level (both in Spain) and has a Spanish coach in Eduardo Nicolas.
The two have played twice in junior ITF events in China, with the younger Xinyu winning both in two tight sets.
It’s not the first time the Chinese player have had this conundrum. There’s a precedent with Lu Jia-Jing (陆佳静) and Lu Jing-Jing (陆景静).
Those two also are six months apart in age. But despite the fact that they’ve been around forever (they are 28 and 29), and have been playing the same circuits, they have only faced each other twice in the pros: once in 2006, and the other in 2011.
Wang and Wang could meet in the Wimbledon junior girls’ final (or even team up for the doubles final. Or both).
And as it happens, the standard bearer for Chinese tennis, Li Na, is on hand at Wimbledon playing in her first legends invitational.
You’d think they’d ask her to present the trophy.
It would be an epic moment.
(Editor’s note: despite double and triple checking the Xiyus and Xinyus in this post, there may still be some errors. We apologize in advance).
About Post Author
More Stories
Under veil of secrecy, Sinner absolved of fault in positive doping test
WTA Rankings Report – As of Aug. 19, 2024
ATP Rankings Report – As of Aug. 19, 2024