On June 19th, local time, the second round of the ATP Halle singles competition took place, with China’s top player Zhang Zhizhen taking center stage. After a thrilling three-set battle, he defeated Grand Slam champion and current world number five Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5), marking the biggest upset of the tournament so far.
Zhang Zhizhen
Zhang and Medvedev were once training partners at a French tennis academy and were close friends back then, a friendship that has endured to this day. Their “former classmate showdown” was undoubtedly a highlight of the match. From the start, Zhang demonstrated excellent serving form, comfortably holding his first three service games. In the sixth game, he found a breakthrough in his return game, capitalizing on his fourth break point opportunity to secure the break and went on to win the first set 6-3. In the second set, Medvedev improved his service efficiency and capitalized on Zhang’s double faults to break twice, leveling the score at 6-2. In the decisive third set, after Medvedev initially had the upper hand, Zhang remained competitive. In the deciding tiebreak, Medvedev took an early lead, going up 4-1, but Zhang rallied to win four consecutive points, sealing the victory.
“It was a tough match,” Zhang said after the match, “The last time we played, I lost to him in a third set tiebreak. Today, when it went to a third set tiebreak, I thought, ‘This is a great chance for revenge.’ I’m glad I handled it well until the end.” The pair’s only previous encounter was in the qualifying rounds of the 2016 ATP Nice clay event, where Medvedev emerged victorious in a decisive third-set tiebreak.
This victory is Zhang’s second against a Top 5 player after defeating Casper Ruud at last year’s US Open, improving his overall record against Top 5 opponents to 2 wins and 4 losses. His live ranking climbed to 39th, another personal best. Importantly, this is the first win by a Chinese mainland male tennis player against a Grand Slam title holder! Zhang will face American youngster Jenson Brooksby in the quarterfinals, who earlier defeated seventh seed Alexander Bublik 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 to advance to the last eight.
(Written and edited by Dato)