It was all smiles, and no hard feelings, as China's tennis ace Wang Xinyu drew strength from a "positive" near miss in her bid for a first career title to swing for more surprises at Wimbledon.
No one would've expected a reaction as joyful as Wang's given she had just lost a high-stakes final in such a disheartening fashion — wasting a commanding 6-2 lead in the critical first-set tiebreak to eventually come up short in the hunt for her first singles crown on the WTA Tour.
Yet, there was the grinning world No 33, who laughed away the narrow defeat, clinging only to the positive takeaways.
"I will be thinking about that tiebreak for a few more days, but I am happy with how I played today overall," Wang confessed after losing 7-6 (10), 4-6, 6-2 to 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the WTA 500 Berlin Open final on Sunday.
"Whenever I had a break point, or I was up, she just solved it with an ace. She's been serving unbelievably.
"But, on the other side, I've been feeling better and better on the (grass) court. I feel that I can put all the shots where I want them to be.
"I guess I will take the positives from this week and go from here," said the 23-year-old, who came all the way from the qualifying rounds to reach her first tour-level singles final in the German capital.
Basking more in pride than regret, Wang did enjoy herself during the award ceremony as, in high spirits, she chatted with Vondrousova, smiled back at the clapping crowd and cracked jokes at her team, complaining at them for "sitting in the wrong box" to watch her play on Sunday — all with a relaxing and pleasant vibe.
She, for sure, deserved some celebration as well.
Opening the season with 10 main draw first-round exits out of her total 14 tournaments before Berlin, Wang, somehow, managed to find her feet on grass from two solid qualifying wins.
Riding on the momentum, Wang wielded her attacking tennis and new-found confidence to deliver a string of giant-killing performances, dispatching world No 16 Daria Kasatkina (1st round), newly-crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff (2nd round) and No 19 Liudmila Samsonova (semifinal) on her way to reach her first tour-level singles championship match after six previous attempts failed at the semifinals stage.
It marked the first time that Wang has racked up four straight top-20 wins during one tournament, including her first upset of a top-two player in Gauff, who herself just collected a second major title by beating world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka at Roland Garros two weeks ago.
Wang has also become the first ever Chinese woman to reach the final of a WTA 500 grass-court tournament, after retired stars Li Na, Zheng Jie and veteran Zhang Shuai all made it that far on grass at the WTA 250 level.
"After all, it was my first final ever. So, I've gained a lot in terms of big-game experience," said Wang, who's decided to skip this week's WTA 500 Bad Homburg Open to prepare for her fourth main draw appearance at Wimbledon.
"Sometimes, we always pay too much attention to the matches we lose, regretting certain moments where we don't do well.
"But, I've realized it's even more important to focus on the positives. I just want to remind myself how well I played this past week, focus on that and enjoy the rest of the grass-court season."
Wang's "dream week", however, almost ended before it got started.
Due to an unidentified health issue, Wang revealed that she'd almost decided to retire before her first qualifying match against Aussie youngster Talia Gibson, only to be persuaded by her team to play on.
"They (my team members) literally pushed me back out there (in the first qualifying round) when I was walking toward the net, thinking: 'That's it, it's not my day.'
"But, they persuaded me to get back out there and play. And it all proved worthwhile," said Wang, who reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon last year to mark her best run at the grass-court major.
Following her semifinal win, the Chinese Tennis Association sent Wang a congratulatory letter, hailing her deep run in Berlin as a proof that "anything is possible" for Chinese tennis.
"From qualifiers to the final appearance, Wang has displayed the spirit, resilience and confidence of Chinese athletes throughout the journey. We extended our warmest congratulations on your breakthrough, and hope you stay focused and dedicated for the next challenge," the CTA letter read.
"Whatever results lie ahead, you've proved that nothing is impossible with Chinese tennis. Hopefully, together with your fellow compatriots on the pro circuit, you will help Chinese tennis usher in a splendid new era."
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