Wang Yafan (Chinese:王雅繁;pinyin:Wáng Yǎfán;Mandarin pronunciation:[wǎŋ jà fǎn]; born 30 April 1994) is a Chinese professionaltennis 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 four doubles titles on theWTA Tour, along with one singles title and four doubles titles on theChallenger Tour. In addition, she won 16 singles and seven doubles tournaments on theITF Circuit.
Playing for theChina Fed Cup team, Wang has a win–loss record of 9–3, as of September 2024.
Wang won her first ever WTA Tour singles title at theMexican Open in Acapulco where she defeatedSofia Kenin in three sets, after being down a set and a break.[5] As a result, she achieved her best ranking of world No. 49 on 4 March 2019.
At theMiami Open, she defeatedKristina Mladenovic in the first round. In the second, she clinched her first victory against a top-10 player by defeatingElina Svitolina in straight sets. She then won againstDanielle Collins in straight sets and reached the fourth round,[6] but then lost to compatriotWang Qiang, in straight sets.
Ranked No. 114 at theUS Open, after four years of absence, she qualified for the main draw and upsetCaroline Garcia, her second career top 10 win.[8] As a result, she returned to the top 100 in the rankings on 11 September 2023.[9][10]
2024: Australian Open third and US Open fourth rounds
At theAustralian Open, she reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career, defeating 22nd seedSorana Cîrstea[11] andEmma Raducanu,[12][13] before losing to 12th seed and eventual finalistZheng Qinwen.[14] As a result, Wang returned to the top 80 on 29 January 2024.[15] At theThailand Open, she reached her first WTA Tour semifinal since 2019 and seventh overall, defeatingKatie Volynets in a third set tiebreak.[16][17]
At theUS Open, she reached the fourth round of a major for the first time in her career, overcoming ninth seedMaria Sakkari by injury retirement for her first top 10 win for the season and second at this tournament,[18][19] before defeatingDiane Parry.[20] She then upset 20th seedViktoria Azarenka in the third round.[21] This was her fifth career top 20 win and also second in the same tournament for the first time.[22] Her run was ended by 26th seedPaula Badosa.[23]
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
^Edition is split into the two years due to COVID-19.
^abcThe firstPremier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between theDubai Tennis Championships and theQatar Ladies Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified asWTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.