For the past two and a half months, Yufei Long and Jamie Wei have been training at the Arizona Athletic Grounds in Mesa, AZ with ten of Asia’s other top emerging pickleball players as part of the UPA Asia Trailblazers Program.

That training has obviously paid off, since Long and Wei completed one of the biggest upsets of the week so far in San Clemente with a 12-10, 8-11, 11-5 victory over No. 4 seeds Jorja Johnson/Lacy Schneemann.

It looked like Johnson/Schneemann had the momentum after scoring six consecutive points to win the second game, but Long/Wei struck right back and got out to a 5-0 lead in the deciding game before closing out the contest a few minutes later.

“It feels amazing, especially after losing a close second set and then being able to come back stronger in the third set to finish it,” Long said of the performance.

“Being here in the US is a very exciting opportunity, and we appreciate UPA Asia for this chance,” Wei added. “I think we present the next generation of Asian talent.”

Though Long and Wei are fully focused on pickleball now, they both played collegiate tennis in the United States.

Long played at Boston College and Vanderbilt University, while Wei played at Temple University.

For Long, pickleball brings back the best parts of competing.

“It’s so exciting to be able to compete again and experience that thrill of competition,” she said.

Both Long and Wei also advanced to the Round of 16 in women’s singles on Wednesday. Long will face No. 3 seed Kaitlyn Christian next, while Wei will take on top seed Anna Leigh Waters.

Later on Thursday, they will take the court together again to play No. 14 seeds Alix Truong/Andrea Koop with a spot in the women’s doubles quarterfinals on the line.

Click here and here to read our player-specific articles about UPA Asia Trailblazers Program participants.