Yuan Yue had a decision to make a couple of years ago. Either play at a tournament in the US and potentially make the Top 100 for the first time or watch idol Roger Federer at his final tournament in London.

She chose the former — although not for the reason you might think.

“My coach said, ‘You can decide by yourself, nobody will push you. You can decide if you want to be Top 100 faster or watch his match,’” Yuan told BNPParibasOpen.com after her third-round win. “The final reason was because the tickets were too expensive,” she added with a laugh.

Yuan was actually contesting a lower-level tournament in Berkeley, California at the time in 2022 and made the final. About four weeks later, she broke the much coveted Top 100 barrier. 

She fell outside it by the time 2023 began but managed to return near the end of last season, aided by appearing in a maiden top-tier finale in Seoul.

Yuan has stayed there and kicked on in 2024, bagging her first WTA title in Austin a tad over a week ago.

The 25-year-old from China broke another barrier, cracking the Top 50 — and is set to rise just outside No. 40 even if she loses her next outing against 2018 Indian Wells finalist Daria Kasatkina in the fourth round.

Yuan recently spent time traveling without a coach, which prompted introspection as it related to her tennis. She said it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Yuan gave herself a pep talk ahead of facing — and beating —  countrywoman Zheng Qinwen in the second round. The 6-4, 6-3 win over the Australian Open finalist allowed her to achieve another milestone, a first Top 20 win. 

“Before the match, I had to (tell) myself a lot of positive things,” said Yuan. “I tried to speak to myself (so I can) believe in myself.

She is a late bloomer, only starting to play aged 10. That was through her dad, who she said took up the sport at a court near their home because he wanted to shed some pounds.

“He wanted to try tennis, because also he never tried it before,” said Yuan. “But he also had to take care of me. So when he played tennis, they also had a coach to teach the children.”

Later, Yuan was told by a coach that she wasn’t good enough to play tennis and should go back to studying. She persevered and enjoyed playing junior Grand Slams, trying the traditional strawberries and cream at Wimbledon. Tennis soon became more than just a hobby.

And speaking of hobbies, outside the court, Yuan used to travel with a camera but stopped because it proved to be too bulky. But she does like to draw — and does it extremely well.

Asked for an example of her work, Yuan pulled out her phone to reveal a splendid depiction of the Great Wall of China and, among other things, flowers.

An artist on and off court, then.