Asian Games | Wu wins twice as Zhang reaches tennis quarterfinals

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's Wu Yibing won in both men's singles and mixed doubles at the 2026 Asian Games on Monday, while veteran compatriot Zhang Shuai cruised into the women's singles quarterfinals.

Wu, who received a first-round bye in singles, swept past Iran's Ali Yazdan 6-1, 6-1.

"I was pretty well-prepared. We waited around for half the day because of the rain and had to make a lot of adjustments moving from outdoor to indoor," Wu said. "I think I maintained a good mindset and stayed positive throughout."

Barely 10 minutes after wrapping up his singles match, Wu returned to the court for mixed doubles alongside Guo Hanyu.

The Chinese pair swept Mongolia's Maralgoo Chogsomjav and Badrakh Munkhbaatar in the opening set and built a 4-0 lead in the second before their opponents rallied to level at 4-4. Wu and Guo recovered to close out a 6-0, 6-4 victory and advance to the second round.

Wu said the physical toll of playing two matches in one day was manageable after pre-Games training that simulated a similar schedule.

"We practiced playing singles in the morning and mixed doubles in the afternoon," Wu said. "So even though I'm a bit tired today, four straight sets plus all the waiting this morning, I feel my body is OK."

"Both of our opponents played really well. They have very well-rounded skills," Guo said. "We came out strong in the first set, put them under enough pressure and handled the key points well. But when we went up 4-0 in the second set, we lost some focus. We managed to pull it back, though, and I'm really happy we got the win."

It was the first time Wu and Guo had played together in mixed doubles, with Guo rating their on-court chemistry at 60 out of 100.

"We still need some time to adjust our tactics for different opponents," Guo said. "It will take more time to gel, but I think we'll keep getting better."

In women's singles, Zhang had little trouble against Iran's Meshkatolzahra Safi, racing to a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Zhang, who also received a first-round bye, advanced to the quarterfinals with the win.