ATP Napoli: Zhizhen Zhang first Chinese player in top 100
Although the Chinese Zhizhen Zhang was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the ATP hard court tournament in Naples in the quarterfinals, he made history for Chinese tennis.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit:
Oct 23, 2022, 01:56 pm
The Chinese Zhizhen Zhang failed in three sets on Friday in the quarterfinals of the ATP World Tour 250 tournament in Naples at the American Mackenzie McDonald. Under normal circumstances, that wouldn't be worth a special report on tennisnet.com - that's meant very pragmatically, without wanting to offend the 26-year-old from Shanghai.
However, the right-hander's participation in the quarter-finals, who had previously fought his way through the organizationally catastrophic qualification for the hard court tournament, opened up a historical sideshow. With the 57 ATP points earned, Zhang is the first Chinese player ever to enter the top 100 of the ATP ranking.
Also Yibing Wu shortly before entering the top 100
The Asian is currently climbing 12 ranks in the men's rankings and will most likely be in position 97 in the ATP computer tomorrow. With Yibing Wu, another Chinese is just outside the top 100 tennis players in the world. The 23-year-old from Hangzhou is currently ranked 117th.
Both of these players recently became the first Chinese men to reach the main competition of the US Open . The most successful Chinese women's singles player is and remains the great Li Na, who has won two Grand Slam tournaments in her career (2011 French Open, 2014 Australian Open).