On June 17th, local time, at the ATP 500 Halle event, Chinese player Zhang Zhizheng battled through three sets in the first round on center court, defeating Austrian player Otte 7-6(8)/6-7(3)/6-4, securing his first victory of the grass season and rising to No. 39 in the live rankings.
Zhang Zhizheng
“Today I played great, and my opponent Otte also had an outstanding performance, especially with his serving,” Zhang said after the match. “We had a fantastic match with only one break point in the third set, and I’m happy to have come out on top. There weren’t many rallies, but the longer you play on grass, the more comfortable you feel. I knew I could hold my service games, and he didn’t have many chances in his return games, but I was able to make some adjustments in my return games to find opportunities to break.”
Zhang’s next opponent will be current world No. 5 Daniil Medvedev. The pair has only met once before, in the second round of qualifying at the 2016 ATP 250 Nice clay event, where Medvedev triumphed in three sets. Interestingly, Zhang and Medvedev were training partners at a French tennis academy and were close friends back then, maintaining their friendship to this day. Their upcoming “alumni showdown” promises to be an intriguing encounter.
Tennis Report: Zhang Zhizheng Claims First Grass Win of the Year, Set to Face Medvedev in Halle. Author：Sports UEFA.Please indicate the source when reproduced：https://www.sportsuefa.com/tennis-hotline/12190.html
