In the early morning of May 3rd, another milestone moment for Chinese tennis was born! In the fourth round of the men's singles of the 2023 Men's Professional Tennis Tour ATP1000 Madrid Masters, China's Zhang Zhizhen faced the No. 8 seed in the final and the world's No. 10 American Fritz, as a result, Zhang Zhizhen lost a set first, won seven in two sets in a row, once saved 3 match points, and finally made a strong counterattack, completed the turnaround, and advanced to the top 8, not only creating a new personal high, but also creating a new high in the Masters of Chinese men's tennis players.
Just two years ago at Wimbledon, Zhang Zhizhen made a big breakthrough for Chinese men's tennis, passing the qualifying round and becoming the first Chinese mainland male tennis player to advance to Wimbledon in the Open era. In October last year, he became the first Chinese mainland men's tennis player to reach the TOP100, becoming a pioneer and pioneer in Chinese men's tennis.
At the same time, another Chinese men's tennis player, Wu Yixiang, also opened the road to violence, bravely entered the US Open main event, became the first man, and then advanced to the round of 32, setting a new high. In February this year, Wu Yixiang won the ATP250 Dallas Open, becoming the first Chinese player to win the men's singles title on the tour. The world ranking soared to 58th, setting a new high for Chinese mainland men's players.
At the Madrid Masters this week, Zhang Zhizhen won his first clay-court tour tournament for Chinese mainland men's tennis. From the second round, he also turned on the rampage mode, defeating world No. 27 Canada's Shapovalov to advance to the round of 32; In the third round, he defeated world No. 13 No. Norrie again to reach the round of 16; In the fourth round, he saved three match points and defeated the world's eighth-ranked American Fritz. In three tough battles, all of which were the first to win the TOP30, TOP20 and TOP10 players, Zhang Zhizhen staged a seemingly impossible journey.
With Zhang Zhizhen reaching the top 8 of the Masters Tournament and having already gained 180 points, his instant ranking has reached 66th, setting a new personal high and is expected to continue to impact Wu Yixiang's previous new high in the Chinese mainland men's ranking. In the quarterfinals, Zhang Zhizhen will face Russia's Karatsev, who eliminated world No. 3 Medvedev, who is currently ranked 121st in the world and has reached a career-high No. 14. However, in the past record of matches, Zhang Zhizhen has won the only matchup, so no matter from which aspect, Zhang Zhizhen has the advantage.
As long as Zhang Zhizhen wins this crucial battle, he will reach the final 4 of the Masters and continue to rewrite the history of Chinese mainland men's tennis, while gaining another 180 points, and the instant ranking will rush to 42nd, not only completing the goal of advancing to the top 50 in the new season ahead of schedule, but also surpassing Wu Yixiang, who was previously ranked 54th, and becoming the new brother of Chinese mainland men's tennis again. Expect this priceless showdown.