Yesterday, Zhang Zhizhen ended his magical journey at the ATP1000 Madrid Masters, where he lost 6-7, 4-6 to Karatsev in a bitter battle to reach the quarterfinals.
This explosion brought Zhang Zhizhen a lot of benefits, not only did he create a new history for himself and Chinese tennis, but he also received 160,000 euros in prize money, and the 180 points won brought his instant world ranking to 67th, which basically ensured his qualification for the main draw of the next Grand Slam this year, not to mention the confidence that comes with ranking and victory.
Of course, there is another point, Zhang Zhizhen will also have a relaxed public opinion environment for a period of time. After Zhang Zhizhen entered the top 100 in the world ranking at the end of last year, he was out of the league in the 2023 season, winning only one victory against the top 300 players in the first two months of six races, coupled with the "match" with netizens on social media, the Internet was full of fans' doubts, ridicule and even abuse against him.
When Zhang Zhizhen, who always "dropped the chain" in the seventh, beat Shapovalov, Norrie and Fritz all the way to the quarterfinals in Madrid with many performances that dominated the seven-game and even saved the match point, there was only praise and praise everywhere. The trend of public opinion in the Internet era is such a second-to-second reversal, people only focus on the result, do not care about the process, do not care about the reason.
Recently, I posted a lot on Weibo, but then I found that Weibo was not very suitable for me. Because many people who are accustomed to reading short text, many people do not have a "sense of time" in their eyes. The so-called "sense of time" is that they can only see the status quo, but cannot understand the trend, so when a person or thing is in a so-called "bad" state, they cannot convince themselves that the situation will improve or even change over time, so even temporary adversity will cause them great fear and hostility.
So now I am particularly cautious when using the word "metamorphosis", because in the eyes of many people, "metamorphosis" is regarded as a flash from "bad" to "good", as if Zhang Zhizhen has changed from a person who is controlled by "heart demons" at critical moments to a rock-solid steel warrior with a rock-solid mentality at a critical moment.
But more often, people's psychological state is more like a continuous map, few people are at the two poles where the psychology is particularly strong and particularly fragile, and more people are somewhere in the poles. That is to say, most people have more or less psychological problems and have room to get better, but we must also understand that the so-called "heart demons" and "problems" are actually normal and universal.
At the same time, psychological problems are not single, and the tests and psychological states faced by athletes are different at different points in each opponent, game, and even a game. It takes time for athletes to gradually learn to cope and master each scene, which is difficult to achieve overnight.
Before this quarterfinal, Zhang Zhizhen's opponents in the previous rounds were ranked quite high, and he played to a certain extent with a mentality of fighting opponents, so he was indeed more open at key moments. In these games, he has managed to dare to play in front of the masters and is not timid. And from the perspective of the Madrid game, Zhang Zhizhen's serving ability has improved, which also makes him more confident in many key points of the game. Psychological and technological development always complement each other.
However, yesterday, when he faced the breakthrough of the qualifying round, when he was optimistic to a certain extent, it was actually a different situation. At the same time, Karatsev's rhythmic forehand shot in the game made Zhang Zhizhen unable to carry out the four-flat positional confrontation like in previous rounds, so he lost seven points in a row when he led 3-0 in the first set until the opening of the second set was broken, Zhang Zhizhen was more or less affected by the pressure on the court. This may be a problem that Zhang Zhizhen needs to continue to face in the future.
But this blockbuster is an important and valuable experience for an athlete, and it shows you how strong you can be when you have no distractions and give it a go. Remember this feeling and keep finding and replicating it in the future to become a better version of yourself. At the same time, there is no doubt that although Zhang Zhizhen's previous results in Madrid this year were lackluster, he quietly changed a lot in four months.
What makes me feel gratified is Zhang Zhizhen's recent interviews, saying that after losing so many games, your heart can actually become calm. He said you can't be reversed every time you grab a 7-2, and if you play enough, there's always a certain probability of winning.
These are not some rhetoric that has been beaten with chicken blood, but it is full of power and reveals some information. A very important node in people's growth is actually to see and accept their current situation, without justifying their past self.
Humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers famously said, "I am the sum of all experiences," and the "me" of the past is shaped by our experiences and circumstances, even if it is somewhat unsatisfactory, there is no need to be too ashamed and blame yourself. But from the moment of reconciliation with the past, it also means that "I" stands outside "me", looks at myself as a bystander, and often reshapes the future life from a higher dimensional thinking.
So I want to congratulate Zhang Zhizhen not only on his results in Madrid, but also on his seemingly new track. So let's look forward to and witness the power of time together!