Zhizhen Zhang becomes first Chinese player to reach ATP Masters 1000 Series quarters

Zhizhen Zhang (Sirobi, Wikimedia Commons)

According to the Associated Press, Zhizhen Zhang of Shanghai, China became the first Chinese man to reach the quarterfinals of an ATP Masters 1000 Series event on Tuesday. Zhang, who was ranked 99th at the start of the Madrid Masters, upset world number 10 and the eighth seed in Madrid, Taylor Fritz of the United States, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6. Zhang won 7-5 in the second set tiebreak and 10-8 in the third set tiebreak.

Zhang had beaten three seeded players in Madrid this week. He upset the 21st seed and 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 in the second round, 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 2-6, 7-6, 7-6 in the third round, and Fritz, a native of Rancho Santa Fe, California, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 in the fourth round.

Despite never having won an ATP tournament on clay in his career, Fritz did reach the semifinals of Monte Carlo last month. He then lost to the eventual champion, Andrey Rublev of Russia, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.

Where Zhang was most impressive in Madrid over the last week was in the tiebreak. There he had a record of six wins and one loss, and outscored his opponents 50-31 prior to his final eight match. Zhang however then lost his quarterfinal matchup to Aslan Karatsev of Russia, the 2021 Australian Open semifinalist, 7-6, 6-4 on Thursday.

Zhang has not yet won a grand slam match in his career. Yet he has beaten three top 10 players in a span of a week on the Spanish dirt. It will now be very interesting to see how this rising Chinese phenom performs at the French Open.

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