ATP Madrid – King of “money time” and perpetual pioneer: Zhang Zhizhen, the symbol of Chinese awakening

Better: no Chinese had ever qualified for a round of 16 in this tournament category. And he achieved it with style, moreover. In the 3rd round, he had offered his first victory over a member of the Top 20 in the snatch against Cameron Norrie (2-6, 7-6, 7-6), before doing it again against Taylor Fritz (3-6, 7-6, 7-6) who will therefore remain his first victim among the ten best players in the world. One hell of an adventure.

A natural detachment that pays off

“I haven’t really thought about his classification because you have to be able to give everythinghe said in his on-court winner interview. Before the match, you know he’s a very tough player to beat. There aren’t really any weaknesses in his game, so I just tried to do what I could. After losing the first set, I was just telling myself to try to hang on a little bit more. In the end I won and it’s fantastic.”

Led 6 points to 4 then 8 points to 7 in the final deciding game by Fritz, Zhang had to save three match points to earn his place in the quarter. Hard-hitting forehand, solid from the bottom and not clumsy in the small game, he had also released Denis Shapovalov and Cameron Norrie in the tie-break of the third set in the previous rounds. In Madrid, he showed an astonishing ability to show his best tennis under pressure, even though he had caved in 9 of his previous 13 matches in the deciding set. This was particularly the case in the first round of the last Australian Open where Ben Shelton had frustrated him in the super tie-break (4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6) before pushing the adventure up to the quarters.

“After losing so much, you are calmer. You relativize after so many defeats“, explained the 26-year-old player again. An astonishing detachment when the stakes were high. But the words were not agreed, they reflected his character. “My father gave me a choice: study, swim or tennis, he revealed two years ago during his breakthrough at Wimbledon. Studying is too boring and expensive. When it comes to swimming, the coaches are really strong and tough. I was so scared of the swim coach. And tennis was fun. The coach was relaxed… So I said to myself: ‘Let’s play tennis.‘”

Soon the Top 50 for the first climber?

But true to his natural detachment, Zhang is not one to make plans for the comet. “I’ll tell you a secret. We played a practice set with Karatsev and I lost it 6-0. I’ll do my best. Here, there are only great players who have had very good results“, he confided. Karatsev has, it is true, regained an impressive level which allowed him to surprise his compatriot Daniil Medvedev in the round of 16.

The Australian Open semi-finalist, who will also play his first quarter in the Masters 1000, leaves with a small lead. But Zhang Zhizhen has nothing to worry about given the quality of his week. And he could well be talked about again in the next tournaments. So better remember his name. And if it seems too difficult for you to pronounce, the person concerned had already suggested a trick to the ATP two years ago:

“It became ‘ZZZ’ because there are three ‘Z’s in my name. It’s much easier to say if you’re not Chinese and it sounds good. Triple Z. I also like to sleep, so ‘ZZZ’ is perfect” Zhang Zhizhen is no shortage of self-mockery, but rest assured there is nothing soothing about his explosive tennis. Shapovalov, Norrie and Fritz can attest to that.