On May 8, the first round of the ATP1000 Rome Masters was fully opened, and in a focus battle that just ended, Chinese player Zhang Zhizhen rebounded and defeated Gran in straight sets 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the second round.
Zhang Zhizhen is currently ranked 56th in the world and is the first Chinese men's singles player, having reached the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters and the semifinals of the Australian Open men's doubles. However, in recent races, Zhang Zhizhen has not performed well, and has been in multiple rounds in a row. He came to the Rome Masters this week, and the fans were not optimistic about him.
In the first round, Zhang Zhizhen's opponent was Colombia's Gran. Gran is ranked 90th in the world and has had one less match between the two sides, with the winner being Gran. Zhang Zhizhen's game was not easy to play.
In the first set, Zhang Zhizhen was in a fast state today, and his receiving state was also quite good, breaking serve twice in the first and fifth games, and the score came to 5-1. In the next two games, the two sides held their serves, and Zhang Zhizhen easily won the first set 6-2.
In the second set, Gran rebounded, holding serve in the first four games, and the score came to 2-2. In the 5th game, Zhang Zhizhen took the lead to break serve again, and the score came to 4-2. In the 8th game, Zhang Zhizhen's serve declined, and his opponent successfully broke for the first time, and the score came to 4-4. In the next two games, after both sides held serve, the score came to 5-5. In the 11th game, Zhang Zhizhen broke serve again, and the score came to 6-5. In the 12th game, Zhang Zhizhen seized the opportunity to win the match on serve, easily completed the hold, won 7-5, and won 2-0.
Throughout the game, Zhang Zhizhen's serve and return were perfect, completely taking the initiative, and finally won two sets in a row. After winning this match, Zhang Zhizhen ended his recent losing streak. After winning this victory, Zhang Zhizhen scored 30 points and gained 30,255 euros. In the second round, Zhang's opponent was No. 19 seed Menalino, and he was expected to surprise again.