Zhang Zhizhen
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Zhang Zhizhen (; ; born 16 October 1996) is a Chinese professional
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. He reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 31 in July 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 47 in July 2024. As of July 2023, he became the highest-ever ranked Chinese male tennis player. He is the current No. 3 Chinese player. He has won three singles and two doubles titles on the
ATP Challenger The ATP Challenger Tour (known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series) is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. It was founded in 1976 as a replacement for the ILTF Satellite Circuit (founded in 1971) as ...
, and two singles and two doubles titles on the ITF Futures Tour. He won a silver medal in mixed doubles alongside
Wang Xinyu Wang Xinyu (, ; born 26 September 2001) is a Chinese professional tennis player. Wang reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 32 on 9 October 2023, and set a doubles ranking of No. 16 on 20 May 2024. Partnering with Hsieh Su-wei, s ...
at the
2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...
. In
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
, Zhang became the first Chinese man in the
Open Era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today a ...
to play in the main draw at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
. In October 2022, he became the first Chinese male player to reach the top 100 in the ATP singles rankings. Then, in 2023 in
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, he became the first Chinese man to reach an
ATP Tour Masters 1000 The ATP 1000 events, also known as ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, are an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour since its inception in 1990. The ATP 1000 tournaments, sitting below the Grand ...
quarterfinal.


Early life

In 1996, Zhang was born to a sports family in Shanghai. His father Zhang Weihua (张卫华) played football in the
Chinese Jia-A League The National Football Jia A League (simplified Chinese: 全国足球甲A联赛), commonly known as Jia-A, was the highest tier of professional football in the People's Republic of China, during 1994 through 2003, operating under the auspices of th ...
as a defender for
Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Shanghai, that competes in . Shanghai Shenhua plays its home matches at the Shanghai Stadium, located within Xuhui District. The owner of Shanghai Shenhua is ...
. His mother was a member of the Shanghai
shooting sports Shooting sports is a group of competitive sport, competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airg ...
team and later worked at the Shanghai bureau of
China Telecom China Telecom Corporation Limited (CT) is a Chinese telecommunications company. It is one of the publicly traded red chip companies of the state-owned China Telecommunications Corporation. The company's H shares have been traded on the Sto ...
. From age 4 to age 6, he had two weekly swimming classes at kindergarten, and his parents enrolled him to tennis lessons in the weekends. When he reached elementary school, his parents let him decide which one of the two sports to continue. He chose tennis because the swimming teachers were strict, partly because of their responsibility of ensuring swimming safety. From 2008 to 2013, he was coached by Shao Donglu (邵东路). In December 2015, he fractured a bone in his left foot after stepping into a pit during a sprinting exercise in a park. He underwent surgery two months later, and his form dropped significantly until May 2017. In 2016, Zhang signed with the Croatian tennis agent Ivan Ljubicic. Since then, Zhang's main residence moved to
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Island, Croatia. In June 2022, he graduated with a degree of human resources management from
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) is a public university in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 98 ...
. Zhang is married and has one child.


Career


2012–2014: ITF debut

Zhizhen Zhang began his career in
Chico, California Chico ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California, United States. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 United Sta ...
, playing on the ITF Futures Tour. Despite losing to
Jason Jung Jason Jung ( zh, c=莊吉生, p=Zhuāng Jíshēng, poj=Chng Kit-seng; ; born 15 June 1989) is an American-born Taiwanese inactive professional tennis player representing team Chinese Taipei. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. ...
in straight sets, Zhang rebounded at the Joplin Futures tournament, recording his first win as a professional against Daniel Yoo, before losing in straight sets to unranked American Gonzales Austin. Zhang lost in the first round of the following two futures tournaments he entered. At the 2012 Shanghai Rolex Masters, Zhang – only sixteen at the time – was given a wild card entry into the qualifying draw; he lost to world number sixty one Brian Baker, winning just three games in his debut clash with a top one hundred ATP player. After a six month hiatus from professional events, Zhang made his 2013 ITF Men's Circuit debut in May at the USA F12 challenger, where
Greg Ouellette Greg Ouellette (born 19 May 1986) is an American Professional tennis player. Ouellette reached a career high singles ranking of 269 on August 12, 2011 winning 5 professional singles titles and 7 doubles titles. This ranking high came short ...
got the better of the youngster in three sets. Zhang continued to play professional events sporadically, managing to come through qualifying to make the 2013 Shanghai Challenger's main draw – his first
ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour (known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series) is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. It was founded in 1976 as a replacement for the ILTF Satellite Circuit (founded in 1971) as ...
appearance. Zhang would skip half of the 2014 ITF Men's Circuit, finishing the year with only thirteen participations in senior-level events, including a quarterfinal showing at a Futures tournament in
Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
.


2015: ATP debut

March brought Zhang his first victories of 2015, where he bested
Jan Zieliński Jan Zieliński (Polish: ; born 16 November 1996) is a Polish professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He has an ATP career-high doubles ranking of world No. 7, which he attained on 19 June 2023. His highest ranking in singles has b ...
and top-400 player Bastian Trinker in Turkey's 11th Futures event of the year. Zhang struggled to maintain consistent form in the following months, exiting in the opening two rounds of every tournament he played in, before winning the
Mont-de-Marsan Mont-de-Marsan (; Gascon dialect, Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a communes of France, commune and capital of the Landes (department), Landes Departments of France, department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Population Milit ...
Futures tournament in June; this was Zhang's first ITF World Tennis Tour title. French tournaments continued being the bearers of good results for Zhang, as he followed his Futures title with a second final three weeks later, this time in
Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ancient Provinces of France, province of Bresse (). I ...
. His ranking bolstered by positive results on the 2015 ITF Men's Circuit, Zhang began entering tournaments on the 2015 ATP Challenger Tour, though he failed to win any main-draw matches in his first few months on the higher-level Challenger Tour. Zhang then made his ATP tour debut at the 2015 Shenzhen Open. As a qualifier, he defeated Japanese
Go Soeda is a former professional Japanese tennis player. He started playing tennis at the age of four and turned professional in April 2003. He has won 18 singles titles on the ATP Challenger Tour, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of w ...
in straight sets in the first round, before losing to sixth-seed
Jiří Veselý Jiří Veselý (; born 10 July 1993) is a Czech professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 35 on 27 April 2015. Youth career Veselý reached the No. 1 junior combined world ranking in January 2011, co ...
in straight sets. Zhang played in the qualifying draws of both the Beijing Open, and the Shanghai Masters, though he failed to breach the main draw of either venue. Zhang rounded out the year with a few early losses in Challenger tournaments.


2016: Loss of form

Zhang inexplicably missed the first four months of the
2016 ATP World Tour The 2016 ATP World Tour was the global elite professional tennis circuit organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for the 2016 tennis season. The 2016 ATP World Tour calendar comprised the Grand Slam tournaments (supervised by ...
, and when he did arrive, he returned on the
2016 ITF Men's Circuit The 2016 ITF Men's Circuit is the 2016 edition of the second-tier tour for men's professional tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation and is a tier below the ATP Tour. The ITF Men's Circuit includes tournaments with prize mon ...
. Zhang lost early through much of April and May, though he did manage to play in both a
2016 ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour, in 2016 in tennis, 2016, was the secondary professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2016 ATP Challenger Tour calendar contained 166 tournaments, with prize money ranging from $40,000 up to $125,000. It was th ...
event, and the qualifying draw of the
ATP Tour 250 The ATP 250 tournaments (previously known as the ''ATP World Tour 250'' tournaments, ''ATP International Series'', and ''ATP World Series'') are the lowest tier of annual men's tennis tournaments on the main ATP Tour, after the four Grand Slam (t ...
tournament in Nice, the Open de Nice where he lost a third set tiebreaker to future world No. 1,
Daniil Medvedev Daniil Sergeyevich Medvedev ( rus, Даниил Сергеевич Медведев, p=dənʲɪˈil sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 11 February 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ...
, in the second round of qualifying. Excluding one quarterfinal at the Futures level, Zhang lost in the first or second round of every tournament main draw he played in. Zhang finished the year outside the top 800, a drop of four-hundred ranking places from the previous year.


2017: Two Futures titles, ATP Tour quarterfinal

Zhang's ranking hovered 800 from September, 2016, to May 2017, when the Chinese youngster, still only twenty years old, reached a third Futures final, this time in Lu'an, China. Zhang lost in the final to American Alexander Sarkissian. Now ranked just outside of the top-700, Zhang continued his ascent, winning the
Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
Futures tournament, and losing in the finals of another futures tournament in China (the
Yinchuan Yinchuan is the capital of the Ningxia, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut people, Tangut-led Western Xia, Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 C ...
Futures tournament) two weeks later. Zhang then began competing on the
2017 ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour, in 2017 in tennis, 2017, was the secondary men's professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2017 ATP Challenger Tour calendar comprises 155 tournaments, with prize money ranging from $50,000 up to $150,000. It ...
, and for the first time, he had no need to play qualifying draws to enter said Challenger Tour events. After a couple months of early losses on the Challenger Tour, Zhang rebounded at the 2017 Shenzhen Open. As a qualifier, Zhang upset 4th seed and world No. 39
Paolo Lorenzi Paolo Lorenzi (; born 15 December 1981) is an Italian former professional tennis player and former Italian number 1. He was coached by Claudio Galoppini. At the age of 34 years and seven months, Lorenzi became the oldest first-time champion in AT ...
in the second round, subsequently losing to
Henri Laaksonen Henri Joona Julius Laaksonen (, Swiss Standard German: ; born 31 March 1992) is a Swiss inactive professional tennis player. His highest singles ranking is world No. 84, which he achieved on 14 February 2022, and his highest doubles ranking is wo ...
in the last eight. On the 26th of November, 2017, after defeating Te Rigele in a three-set final, Zhang won the China Tennis Grand Prix Cup title for the first time. With his newfound success at both the Futures and Tour Levels, Zhang finished 2017 ranked in the top 350.


2018: ATP Challenger semifinal

Zhang spent the first half of 2018 losing early on both the
2018 ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour, in 2018 in tennis, 2018, was the secondary professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2018 ATP Challenger Tour calendar comprised 159 tournaments, with prize money ranging from $50,000 up to $150,000. It was th ...
and the
2018 ITF Men's Circuit The 2018 ITF Men's Circuit is the 2018 edition of the second-tier tour for men's professional tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation and is a tier below the ATP Tour. The ITF Men's Circuit includes tournaments with prize mon ...
. Zhang reached a sixth futures final, losing to Jelle Sels in
Casina Casina ( ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Emilia, in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about west of Bologna and about southwest of Reggio Emilia. The municipality of Casina contains the ''frazioni'' (su ...
. Zhang's surge in form continued, with a semifinal appearance at the 2018 Jinan International Open. Zhang then lost to
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
in
Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
, retiring due to injury halfway through the third set. Zhang recovered in time for both the 2018 China Open, and the 2018 Shanghai Rolex Masters, although he failed to win matches in either.


2019: Two Challenger titles, China's No. 1 player, top 150 debut

Zhang started his 2019 season with back-to-back quarterfinal showings on the
2019 ITF Men's World Tennis Tour The 2019 ITF Men's World Tennis Tour is the 2019 edition of the third-tier tour for men's professional tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation and is a tier below the ATP Challenger Tour. The ITF Men's World Tennis Tour incl ...
. Zhang then transitioned to the
2019 ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour in 2019 in tennis, 2019 was the secondary professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2019 ATP Challenger Tour calendar had 158 tournaments scheduled, with prize money ranging from $54,160 up to $162,480. It was t ...
, where he reached the round of sixteen in Anning, followed by a quarterfinal loss to
Ramkumar Ramanathan Ramanathan Ramkumar (born 8 November 1994) is an Indian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 111 in singles by the ATP, which he achieved in July 2018, and in doubles at No. 58, achieved in August 2022. Ramkuma ...
at the 2019 ATP Challenger China International – Nanchang. Zhang lost early in his next three challenger tournaments. June's Columbus Challenger saw Zhang return to the later rounds, with another quarterfinal defeat. Zhang's fifth quarterfinal (including both the Futures and Challenger tours' tournaments) was also a defeat; he fell to Bai Yan at the 2019 Chengdu Challenger. The fall hard-court swing saw Zhang's best results to date. He won the 2019 Jinan International Open, beating top one-hundred player Soonwoo Kwon en route. He also reached the second round of both the 2019 Zhuhai Championships and the 2019 China Open, with the latter being a loss to top-five player and eventual champion
Dominic Thiem Dominic Thiem (; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved in March 2020. Thiem won 17 ATP Tour-level s ...
. October handed Zhang his
ATP Tour Masters 1000 The ATP 1000 events, also known as ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, are an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour since its inception in 1990. The ATP 1000 tournaments, sitting below the Grand ...
main draw debut: a defeat to
Hubert Hurkacz Hubert Hurkacz (; born 11 February 1997) is a Polish professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, making him the highest-ranked Polish man in singl ...
at the 2019 Rolex Shanghai Masters. Zhang concluded October with a second Challenger crown, ousting Li Zhe in the final round of the 2019 Shenzhen Longhua Open. Zhang finished 2019 ranked 138. A career high year-end ranking.


2020–2021: Historic Wimbledon debut

Zhang skipped most of the already abridged
2020 ATP Tour The 2020 ATP Tour was the global elite men's professional tennis circuit organised by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for the 2020 tennis season. The 2020 ATP Tour calendar was composed of the Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tourna ...
season. He played and lost in the first round of the
2020 Tata Open Maharashtra The 2020 Tata Open Maharashtra was a 2020 ATP Tour tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 25th edition of the only ATP Maharashtra Open, tournament played in India and took place in Pune, India, from 3 February through 9 Feb ...
, and failed to progress past qualifying at the 2020 Dubai Tennis Championships. After the onset of the
Coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Zhang did not play again until the following year. Zhang started his 2021 year with a first-round loss at the 2021 İstanbul Challenger, and a second round loss in
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
, ending his hopes of qualifying for the
2021 Australian Open The 2021 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, on 8–21 February 2021. It was the 109th edition of the Australian Open, the 53rd in the Open Era, and the first Major tournament of the year. It w ...
(the qualifiers were held in Dubai due to coronavirus restrictions and concerns). Grinding through the
2021 ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour in 2021 in tennis, 2021 was the secondary professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2021 ATP Challenger Tour calendar comprised 147 tournaments with prize money ranging from $36,680 up to $156,240. It was the 44 ...
with few victories, Zhang's drought ended with a semifinal placing at the Biella Challenger Indoor. Zhang fell short of qualifying for the
2021 French Open The 2021 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), major level tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 30 May to 13 June 2021, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles pla ...
, thus concluding his clay season. After playing (and losing in the second round) at the 2021 Nottingham Trophy, Zhang qualified for a Grand Slam main draw at the
2021 Wimbledon Championships The 2021 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom, the first since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. N ...
; his first appearance in a main draw at a Major level. He became the first male Chinese in the
Open Era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today a ...
to qualify at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
. He was also only the fourth Chinese man to play singles in the main draw of any Grand Slam since 1968, with the others being Wu Di at the Australian Open in 2013, 2014 and 2016,
Zhang Ze Zhang Ze (; ; born July 4, 1990), is a Chinese former professional tennis player. Zhang's career highlights include reaching the quarterfinals of the 2012 China Open (defeating Richard Gasquet en route), playing the Australian Open main dra ...
at the Australian Open in 2014 and 2015, and Li Zhe at the 2019 Australian Open. Zhang's 2021 season abruptly ended with an injury obtained against
Federico Delbonis Federico Delbonis (; born 5 October 1990) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 on 9 May 2016. He also reached a career-high doubles ranking of No. 110 on 22 July 2019. ...
in Hamburg. Zhang finished the year outside the top three-hundred, despite peaking just outside of the top-one-hundred in the
ATP rankings The PIF ATP Rankings (previously known as the Pepperstone ATP Rankings) are the merit-based method used by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for determining the qualification for entry as well as the seeding of players in all single ...
earlier in the season.


2022: US Open debut, second ATP quarterfinal and historic top 100

The San Luis Potosi Challenger in April was Zhang's first quarterfinal appearance at any level in 2022. Having lost early or in qualifying for many previous events on the
2022 ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour in 2022 in tennis, 2022 was the secondary professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2022 ATP Challenger Tour calendar comprised 184 tournaments with prize money ranging from $37,520 up to $159,360. It was the 4 ...
, Zhang finally managed to progress beyond the second round at a tournament for the first time in almost a year. The following week in
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, at the 2022 Tallahassee Tennis Challenger, Zhang made it to the last four, losing to
Wu Tung-lin Wu Tung-lin ( zh, t=, p=Wú Dong-lín, c=吳東霖; born 12 May 1998), also known as Tony Wu, is a Taiwanese tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (ten ...
in two close sets. Zhang then made a Challenger quarterfinal for the third week in a row, losing to former top-ten player and 2017 Rolex Paris Masters champion
Jack Sock Jack Sock (born September 24, 1992) is an American former professional tennis doubles and a current pickleball player. He won four career singles titles and 17 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, and had career-high tennis rankings of world No. 8 ...
in the final eight. A couple weeks later, and Zhang would again find himself in a Challenger semifinal, this time at the 2022 Tunis Open. Zhang failed to reach the Wimbledon Championships' main draw again, losing in the second round of qualifying to Daniel Masur. Zhang returned to the Challenger tour after his loss to Masur, opting to play the 2022 Platzmann-Sauerland Open. He reached the final without dropping a set, eliminating both third-seeded
Manuel Guinard Manuel Guinard (born 15 November 1995) is a French professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 36 on 14 April 2025 and a career-high singles ranking of world No. 134 on 31 October 2022. Guinard won his ...
and seventh-seeded
Pablo Cuevas Pablo Gabriel Cuevas Urroz (; born January 1, 1986) is a Uruguayan tennis coach and a former professional player. Cuevas won the 2008 French Open – Men's doubles, 2008 French Open men's doubles title with Luis Horna, and was especially noted t ...
en route. Eighteen year-old Serbian Hamad Medjedovic downed Zhang in less than an hour. This was Zhang's first appearance in a challenger final since 2019. Zhang next travelled to
Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...
with a special exemption entry into the Brawo Open. Zhang would reach the semifinals in Braunschweig, defeating world No. 51,
Pedro Martínez Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to . As of 2023, M ...
, and
2018 French Open The 2018 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 27 May to 10 June and consisted of events for players in singles, doubles and m ...
semifinalist
Marco Cecchinato Marco Cecchinato (; born 30 September 1992) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 16 reached on 25 February 2019. On 29 April 2018, he won his first ATP World Tour title at the 2018 Hunga ...
.
Maximilian Marterer Maximilian Marterer (born 15 June 1995) is a German professional tennis player. He has a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world No. 45, achieved in 13 August 2018. Professional career 2015-2017: ATP and to ...
bested Zhang in a three-set match to reach the final, despite Zhang holding numerous match points. Zhang entered the 2022 Internazionali di Tennis Città di Trieste Challenger as a qualifier, defeating fifth-seeded
Marco Cecchinato Marco Cecchinato (; born 30 September 1992) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 16 reached on 25 February 2019. On 29 April 2018, he won his first ATP World Tour title at the 2018 Hunga ...
and eighth-seeded Alexandre Müller en route to the final, where he lost to Francesco Passaro despite clinching the first set. Zhang re-entered the top-200 for the first time since he injured himself at the
2021 Hamburg European Open The 2021 Hamburg European Open was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 115th edition of the event for the men and the 19th edition for the women, after last tournament being held in 2002. The to ...
. Zhang reached a second straight Challenger Tour final at the 2022 Internazionali di Tennis del Friuli Venezia Giulia in Cordenons, Italy upsetting fourth seed Pavel Kotov in the first round, and Alexandre Müller in the semifinals to reach the final. It was Zhang's third Challenger final in one month, and the fifth of his career. He rallied after losing the first set against
Andrea Vavassori Andrea Vavassori (; born 5 May 1995) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 6, achieved on 14 October 2024 and a singles ranking of world No. 128, achieved on 19 June 2023. Vavassori is a ...
, defeating the home-crowd favorite in three sets to lift the title – Zhang's first Challenger title in nearly three years. Zhang rose to world No. 157 in the
ATP rankings The PIF ATP Rankings (previously known as the Pepperstone ATP Rankings) are the merit-based method used by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for determining the qualification for entry as well as the seeding of players in all single ...
following Cordenons, his highest ranking in two and a half years. At his first hardcourt tournament in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
since June, Zhang reached the final defeating former junior number one
Harold Mayot Harold Mayot (born 4 February 2002) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 103 achieved on 14 October 2024. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 255 achieved on 16 Sept ...
in the semifinals, as well as ATP Tour champion
Robin Haase Robin Haase (; born 6 April 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player. He reached his career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 in July 2012 and his highest doubles ranking of world No. 29 in May 2023 ...
in the final eight. He lost to fifth seed
Tomáš Macháč Tomáš Macháč (; born 13 October 2000) is a Czech professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world No. 20 on 3 March 2025 and doubles ranking of No. 46 on 30 September 20 ...
in the final, despite winning the first set, six games to one. Zhang’s run elevated his ranking to No. 138, placing him within two spots of his career-high ranking. He made his debut at the US Open, qualifying for the main draw alongside his friend Yibing Wu, making history for his country. He narrowly missed being the first Chinese male national to win a major main-draw match in 63 years after losing to
Tim van Rijthoven Tim van Rijthoven (; born 24 April 1997) is a Dutch professional tennis player. Van Rijthoven has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 101, which he first achieved on 18 July 2022, and a doubles ranking of No. 225, attained in 9 May ...
, failing to convert seven match points in the third set. At the 2022 Astana Open he qualified into the main draw and defeated
Aslan Karatsev Aslan Kazbekovich Karatsev (, ; born 4 September 1993) is a Russian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 14 on 7 February 2022, and peaked at No. 76 in the doubles rankings on 16 May 2022. Karatsev h ...
for his second ATP 500-level win. He lost to fifth seed
Andrey Rublev Andrey Andreyevich Rublev (; born 20 October 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 5 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved in September 2021 ...
in the second round. As a result he reached a new career-high ranking of No. 110 on 10 October 2022. After qualifying for
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
, Zhang beat
Márton Fucsovics Márton Fucsovics (, ; born 8 February 1992) is a Hungarian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 31 on 4 March 2019. He is currently the No. 2 Hungarian player. Early life Fucsovics started playing t ...
and sixth seed
Sebastián Báez Sebastián Báez (; born 28 December 2000) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 18, achieved on 24 June 2024 and a doubles ranking of world No. 189, achieved on 29 July 2024. Báez ha ...
in straight sets to reach his first ATP Tour-level quarterfinal for the season and first since 2017. As a result, he became the first Chinese male player in the
Open era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today a ...
to reach the top 100.


2023: First Major, Masters wins and historic singles quarterfinal, top 5 win, first ATP semifinal

At the 2023 Mutua Madrid Open he got his first Masters win over qualifier
Jurij Rodionov Jurij Rodionov (born 16 May 1999) is an Austrian professional tennis player. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 87 achieved on 19 February 2024. He also has a career high doubles ranking of No. 254 achieved on 9 September 202 ...
. He then defeated 21st seed
Denis Shapovalov Denis Viktorovich Shapovalov (born ) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 10 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, which he first achieved on September 21, 2020. Sh ...
for his first top 30 win, to reach the third round of a Masters for the first time in his career. Next he defeated world No. 13 and eleventh seed
Cameron Norrie Cameron Norrie (; born 23 August 1995) is a British professional tennis player. He has reached career-high ATP Rankings, rankings of world No. 8 in singles (on 12 September 2022) and No. 117 in doubles (on 13 June 2022). Norrie has won five ATP ...
for his first top 20 win to reach a historic fourth round. He saved three match points in his first top 10 win over eight seed
Taylor Fritz Taylor Harry Fritz (born October 28, 1997) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on November 18, 2024, and a doubles ranking of ...
to become the first Chinese man in history to reach the quarterfinals at a Masters tournament. Zhang was just the second Chinese player in history to beat a Top 10 player, after
Wu Yibing Wu Yibing (; ; born 14 October 1999) is a Chinese professional tennis player. Wu is the first Chinese player in the Open Era to reach and to win an ATP Tour-level singles final, doing so at the 2023 Dallas Open. He has been ranked as high as ...
, who also defeated Fritz earlier in the year. He lost to
Aslan Karatsev Aslan Kazbekovich Karatsev (, ; born 4 September 1993) is a Russian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 14 on 7 February 2022, and peaked at No. 76 in the doubles rankings on 16 May 2022. Karatsev h ...
in the quarterfinals in two sets. At the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, he advanced to the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time, after his first round opponent,
Dušan Lajović Dušan Lajović ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Лајовић; born 30 June 1990) is a Serbian professional tennis player. On 29 April 2019, he reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 23. On 21 September 2020, he peaked at No. 82 in the doubl ...
retired after Zhang took the first set 6-1, and led 4-1 in the second set, becoming the first Chinese man to win at Roland Garros in 86 years. Next he defeated qualifier
Thiago Agustín Tirante Thiago Agustín Tirante (born 10 April 2001) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 90, achieved on 15 April 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 257, achieved on 1 November 2021. Career 2 ...
to reach the third round of this Major for the first time since Kho Sin-Kie in 1937. As a result he moved to a new career high singles ranking in the top 55. He also made his Major debut in doubles as an alternate pair with Victor Vlad Cornea. In
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, he defeated
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in the first round, then Maxime Cressy in a thrilling three set match to advance to the quarterfinals, bringing him up to a career high ranking of No. 52, becoming the highest ever ranked male Chinese tennis player and from any other East Asian country, passing
Wu Yibing Wu Yibing (; ; born 14 October 1999) is a Chinese professional tennis player. Wu is the first Chinese player in the Open Era to reach and to win an ATP Tour-level singles final, doing so at the 2023 Dallas Open. He has been ranked as high as ...
's record of No. 54. He lost in the quarterfinals to
Francisco Cerúndolo Francisco Cerúndolo (; born 13 August 1998) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 18, achieved on 5 May 2025 and a doubles ranking of No. 203, achieved on 31 October 2022. He is curr ...
. In
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, he reached the quarterfinals of an ATP 500 for the first time in his career defeating Jan Choinski and upsetting World No. 45
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in three sets. He then went on to reach his first ever ATP semifinal, defeating
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in straight sets. In the semifinals, he lost to
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in straight sets. At the US Open he reached the third round defeating JJ Wolf and fifth seed
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in five sets and becoming the first Chinese man to beat a top-5 player. At the
Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...
in Hangzhou, Zhang, as the top seed, beat Ammar Alhogbani, Muhammad Rifqi Fitriadi, fifth seed
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and 13th seed Khumoyun Sultanov to reach the gold medal match. Despite being down two breaks in both sets, he defeated second seed
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in straight sets to claim the gold medal. At the 2023 Rolex Shanghai Masters he reached the third round, the first Chinese player to do so at his home tournament and to claim back to back wins at the home Masters 1000, defeating
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and 28th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry. Next he defeated Brandon Nakashima to reach a historic fourth round on home soil.


2024: Historic Major doubles semifinal, Olympics mixed doubles silver, ATP singles final and doubles title

He made his debut at the 2024 United Cup as the top ATP player of team China and the highest ranked man from an East Asian country in history. He recorded his first win over
Jiří Lehečka Jiří Lehečka (; born 8 November 2001) is a Czech professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 22, achieved on 24 February 2025, and a doubles ranking of No. 144, achieved on 15 January 2024. He has won two ...
. He also recorded his first win at the 2024 Australian Open over
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, before losing to 21st seed
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. As a result, he reached a historic top 50 in the singles rankings. In doubles, on his debut, he reached the quarterfinals with
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taking out the 2020 champions and third seeds,
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and
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. Next he reached the semifinals defeating
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and Adam Pavlásek becoming the first Chinese man to reach the last four at a Grand Slam. On his debut at the Italian Open, he reached his second clay Masters quarterfinal and second overall, defeating
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, 19th seed
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, 12th seed Ben Shelton and qualifier Thiago Monteiro. Following reaching his second ATP Tour semifinal at the 2024 Halle Open, where he lost to top seed
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, he reached a new career-high at world No. 33 on 24 June 2024. He won the silver medal with
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in mixed doubles at the
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. At the 2024 Hangzhou Open, he reached his third and a historic all-Chinese semifinal with compatriot Bu Yunchaokete, following wins over Denis Yevseyev, Mattia Bellucci and
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. He defeated Buyunchaokete to reach his first ATP Tour singles final. He was hope to become only the third Chinese titlist in the
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after
Wu Yibing Wu Yibing (; ; born 14 October 1999) is a Chinese professional tennis player. Wu is the first Chinese player in the Open Era to reach and to win an ATP Tour-level singles final, doing so at the 2023 Dallas Open. He has been ranked as high as ...
, together with Shang Juncheng, who was also a finalist in
Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...
in the same day but lost to
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
the next day.


Performance timelines


Singles

''Current through the 2025 French Open.''


Doubles


Significant finals


Summer Olympics


Mixed doubles: 1 (silver medal)


Other significant finals


Asian Games


Singles: 1 (gold medal)


ATP Tour finals


Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)


Doubles: 1 (1 title)


ATP Challenger Tour finals


Singles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runner-ups)


Doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)


ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour finals


Singles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runner-ups)


Doubles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runner-ups)


Record against top 10 players

* Zhang has a record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.


Notes


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Zhizhen 1996 births Living people Chinese male tennis players Tennis players at the 2018 Asian Games Tennis players at the 2022 Asian Games Tennis players from Shanghai Asian Games competitors for China Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in tennis Asian Games gold medalists for China Tennis players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for China Olympic medalists for China in tennis Olympic tennis players for China