In her career, she has won one singles title and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, along with one singles title and four doubles titles on the Challenger Tour. In addition, she won 16 singles and seven doubles tournaments on the ITF Circuit. 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.
Playing for the China Fed Cup team, Wang has a win–loss record of 9–2, as of June 2023.
Career
She was born in Nanjing in 1994. Wang Yafan started playing tennis when she was nine years old.[1]
In September 2014 at the Guangzhou Open, Wang was given a wildcard into the singles main draw, and she advanced to the semifinals, upsetting the top seed and world No. 20, Samantha Stosur, in the first round,[3] and qualifiers Petra Martić and Zhang Kailin along the way. She was knocked out by eventual champion Monica Niculescu.[4]
2018: Breakthrough, Miami Open fourth round
Wang made her career breakthrough at the 2018 Miami Open, where she reached the fourth round as a qualifier before losing against tenth seed Angelique Kerber, in a very tight match.
Wang won her first ever WTA Tour singles title at the Mexican Open in Acapulco where she defeated Sofia Kenin in three sets, after being down a set and a break. As a result, she achieved her best world ranking of No. 49 on 4 March 2019.
At the Miami Open, she defeated Kristina Mladenovic in the first round. In the second round, she clinched her first victory against a top-ten player by defeating sixth seed and world No. 5, Elina Svitolina, in straight sets. She kept on and won against 25th seed and Australian Open semifinalist Danielle Collins in straight sets, and reached the fourth round, but then lost to compatriot Wang Qiang, in straight sets.
2023: Back to top 100
At the 2023 US Open (tennis) she qualified for the main draw and stunned seventh seed Caroline Garcia.[5] As a result she returned to the top 100 in the rankings on 11 September 2023.
Performance timelines
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(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.
^ abThe first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar 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 as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.