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Zhizhen Zhang etched his name into the record books on Friday when he became the first Chinese player to be ranked inside the ATP top 100. The 26-year-old, who is currently in action at the Tennis Napoli Cup, reached the quarterfinals of the tournament which saw him rise to No. 96 in the ATP live rankings.
After his Round of 16 match against Sebastian Baez, Zhang spoke to the ATP regarding his record-breaking achievement.
"I think it is a tough road to be Top 100, I’m so happy for today because I played two matches today and it is a small step, but it’s also a big step for Chinese men’s tennis," Zhang said.
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Initially, a win over Mackenzie McDonald in the quarterfinals would have secured him a spot in the top 100 of the ATP rankings on Monday. His 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 defeat to McDonald meant Zhang would fall just short of the achievement. However, other results of the tournament fell his way and the Chinese player managed to secure a spot in the top 100.
Zhang, who began this week at a career-high ranking of No. 109, fell just short of becoming the second Chinese player to reach a tour-level semifinal in the Open Era since Pan Bing in Seoul in 1995.
How has Zhizhen Zhang performed in 2022 so far
Zhizhen Zhang kickstarted his season at Forli 1, an ATP Challenger tour event, where he lost 7-5, 6-4 to Luca Potenza in the second round. He failed to get past the qualifiers in the next two events. In his fourth event of the year, at Fau Challenger, Zhang lost in the first round to Arthur Fils 7-5, 6-0.
At the San Louis Open Challenger Tour, he defeated two higher-ranked players to reach the quarterfinals, where he lost to Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. He replicated his efforts in Tallahassee, where he reached the semifinals before going down 6-4, 7-6(7) to Tung-Lin Wu.
At the Tunis Open, the Chinese reached the second semifinal of his season, where he lost to Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena 6-2, 6-1. Zhang reached the first final of his season at Luedenschied by not dropping a set. He locked horns with Serbia's Hamad Medjedovic in the summit clash and went down 6-2, 6-1.
His only triumph of the season came in Cordenons, Italy, where he beat Andrea Vavassori 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 to clinch the title.
