Zhang Zhizhen is still setting his own record. In the first round of the Men's Doubles at the Madrid Masters, he and his new partner Karatsev played well, winning two sets in a row after losing one set to defeat fifth seeds Gonzalez/Vassellin to advance to the next round. The victory also allowed Zhang to earn his first doubles victory at the Masters, setting a new milestone.
ATP1000 the first round of the men's doubles at the Madrid Masters, Chinese tennis duo Zhang Zhizhen/Karatsev will face Gonzalez/Vaserin. Zhang Zhizhen is currently ranked 49th in singles and 63rd in doubles, but his singles results this season are average. However, his doubles record has taken a leap forward. At this season's Australian Open, he and his first-time partner Mahachi made it to the semi-finals, and then won the title at the Marseille 250 and the Barcelona 500. It is worth mentioning that Zhang Zhizhen also created his best result in Madrid last year, reaching the quarterfinals in singles, and finally losing to his partner Karatsev in this match.
Karatsev, on the other hand, is currently ranked 48th in singles and 1257 in doubles, and his last doubles match was back in Brisbane at the start of the season, and he has won just one match all season.
As the opponent of Zhang's pair, Gonzalez is ranked 12th in doubles and won the Acapco 500 this season. Ranked 11th, Wasserin has reached three Grand Slam doubles finals, including the French Open in 2014.
In the face of a strong opponent, Zhang Zhizhen responded calmly, missing 2 break points in the 4th game, and the score was 2-2. In the 7th game, Zhang Zhizhen's combination once resolved 2 break points, but in the end they failed to hold serve, and the opponent won the first set with this break advantage, with a score of 4-6.
In the second set, Zhang Zhizhen's combination gradually found a tacit understanding, and the opponent held each other's serve in the first 11 games. In the crucial 12th game, Zhang Zhizhen finally seized the opportunity and led 40-15 when he came up, and finally completed the break and equalized the score 7-5.
In the final tie-break match, Zhang Zhizhen continued the excellent form of the second set, and the score was always ahead, and finally won 10-3, and reversed the opponent to advance to the next round.
The battle lasted 1 hour and 19 minutes. Zhang Zhizhen combined 2 aces, 0 double faults, 71% first-serve goal rate, 72% first-serve scoring rate, and 1 of 6 break points. With this victory, Zhang Zhizhen immediately reached 59th in the doubles rankings.