On May 13, Beijing time, in the third round of the men's singles of the 2024 ATP1000 Rome Masters, China's first brother Zhang Zhizhen faced off against the No. 12 seed Shelton. Zhang Zhizhen swept Shelton 2-0 in straight sets, and the scores in the two sets were 6-2 and 6-4 respectively.
became the first player in the history of Chinese men's tennis to advance to the round of 16 of the Rome Masters,
It will face Monteiro, the dark horse of the qualifying tournament, in the 1/8 finals.
Before the Rome Masters, Zhang Zhizhen had suffered three consecutive singles defeats, and he ushered in a resurgence in this tournament. Zhang swept Garland 2-0 in the first round and 19th seed Mannarino in the second round 2-0.
Zhang now faces 12th seed Shelton in the third round of the men's singles, and the two met once in the first round of the 2023 Australian Open, when Zhang squandered five match points and lost to Shelton.
In the first set, Zhang Zhizhen took the lead to break the tie to take a 2-0 lead, and then in the next four games, both sides held their serves, and Zhang Zhizhen took a 4-2 lead in the first six games. Zhang Zhizhen won two more games at the end of the set and easily won the first set 6-2.
Entering the second set of the game, Zhang Zhizhen took the lead to break the tie to take a 2-0 lead, and then the two sides held their serve in the next eight games, Sheldon never had a chance to break, Zhang Zhizhen maintained the advantage and won another set 6-4, and finally Zhang Zhizhen swept Shelton with a total score of 2-0, advancing to the round of 16 of the Rome Masters for the first time in his career, and also the first person in the history of Chinese men's tennis to advance to the top 16 of this tournament, and the instant ranking came to the 51st in the world.