Indian Wells Masters: Wu beats Munar in third set tiebreak after controversial call on matchpoint

Yibing Wu edged out Jaume Munar 6-7 (6), 6-0, 7-6 (3) on Wednesday night. He’ll play No 23 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the next round

Yibing Wu at the 2023 Indian Wells Masters

Haresh Ramchandani

March 9, 2023

BNP Paribas Open •First round • completed

See draw

Y. WuvsJ. Munar

Chinese wildcard Yibing Wu advanced to the second round of the Indian Wells Masters after a dramatic three-set win over Spaniard Jaume Munar in a deciding set tiebreaker.

Wu needed three hours and 39 minutes for the 6-7 (6), 6-0, 7-6 (3) at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden with the match ending on a dramatic note as the Chinese player dived to hit what appeared to be a winning volley but his racket went out of his hand and hit the net.

Munar argued that Wu’s racket hit the net before the ball bounced twice and the point should be awarded to him but the chair umpire did not agree to his point of view.

Wu, ranked No 67 and the highest ranked male player from China in the history of the ATP rankings, will play No 23 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina next.

“Tennis is like this – you never know what’s going to happen, and that’s why we all love this sport”

Wu Yibing weighs in on the match point drama… pic.twitter.com/3uLJUBdhyp
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 9, 2023

Wu’s win also makes him the first Chinese player to win an ATP 1000 Series match outside of their country and just the seventh by a Chinese male player in any country.

1 – With victory over Jaume Munar at @BNPPARIBASOPEN, Wu Yibing becomes the first Chinese player to win an ATP 1000-level match on foreign soil. It is only the seventh victory by a Chinese player at the level, with 1,612 days since Wu's last 1000 win (Shanghai 2018). Rare. pic.twitter.com/ykfl6iwdIU
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) March 9, 2023