With a remarkable three consecutive victories, Milan has reached the semifinals of the Hope Tournament in the 2025 season.

On July 20, 1969, American astronaut Armstrong stepped down from the spacecraft and, at that moment of landing on the moon, said, "That's one small step for me, but a giant leap for mankind." Since then, this phrase has become a classic, known to all. Similarly, many times the small breakthroughs and gradual progress made by Chinese female tennis players on the court accumulate into significant advancements for Chinese women's tennis. Because of this, every Chinese female tennis player who achieves a breakthrough deserves to be remembered. Today, this article will share the story of a Chinese female tennis player who achieved a breakthrough last week.

This Chinese female tennis player is Milan, who just entered the WTA professional tennis scene last season. This year, she started from the qualifiers at the Hope Tournament held in La Marsa, Tunisia, achieving six consecutive victories by defeating Belgian player O Lopez, Russian player E Garkusha, Kenyan player C Wanjala, Slovakian player K Kuzmova, and Bulgarian player Shinikova, making it to her first semifinals in a Hope Tournament. Unfortunately, despite having an advantageous position in the semifinals, she was reversed by Belgian player Saldin, losing two straight sets and failing to advance further. Nevertheless, Milan has still achieved a new milestone in her career.

Unfortunately, after that, Milan was unable to reach the semifinals in any tournament again, often exiting early. As a result, there was a time when her world ranking even fell outside the top 1000. Last week, at the Hope Tournament held in Huamantla, Mexico, Milan's name appeared, along with another Chinese female tennis player, Dang Yiming, competing in this Hope Tournament.

In the first round, facing the tournament's third seed, Canadian player Grubor, despite giving her all, Dang Yiming was still defeated in straight sets, suffering her second consecutive loss. Thus, Milan became the only remaining Chinese player in this Hope Tournament. How did she perform? In the first round, facing American player S Atturu, Milan decisively won without dropping a single game, advancing smoothly; in the second round, she faced the tournament's fourth seed, Mexican player N Sousa Salazar. In the first set, Milan took the lead with a score of 6-2. However, in the second set, she was pushed to a tiebreak. Fortunately, Milan managed to pull through, winning 7-5, marking her second entry into the quarterfinals of a Hope Tournament this year.

In the quarterfinals, Milan's opponent was the tournament's seventh seed, Mexican player J Hinojosa Gomez. In this match, Milan won in straight sets, reaching the semifinals of a Hope Tournament for the first time this year. This is also her second time reaching the semifinals in her professional career. So, will she be able to advance further this time?

In the semifinals, Milan faced the tournament's fifth seed, Mexican player MF Navarro Oliva. Due to the significant gap in strength and world ranking, despite Milan giving her all, she still suffered a defeat and could not advance further. Nevertheless, achieving three consecutive victories this week and reaching the semifinals of a Hope Tournament for the first time this year, Milan is still worthy of praise. This concludes today's tennis story; more to come tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)