In the latest ATP singles world rankings, Zhang Zhizhen, ranked No.49, became the highest-ranked Asian player, which is the first time that a Chinese mainland player has been crowned the first Asian brother.

Zhang Zhizhen ranked No. 1 in Asia this week

Photo: Visual China

In 2021, Zhang Zhizhen broke through from the qualifying round for the first time at Wimbledon and landed in the main draw of the Grand Slam men's singles. In 2022, Zhang Zhizhen won 1 championship and 3 runners-up in the Challenger, and passed the qualifying round again at the US Open to enter the main event; After reaching the quarterfinals as a qualifier at the ATP Naples at the end of October, he broke through the top 100 in the world ranking for the first time, becoming the first player from Chinese mainland to rank in the top 100 of the ATP world rankings.

In 2023, Zhang Zhizhen continues his breakthrough journey, and he directly entered the four Grand Slam tournaments with his ranking, reaching the top 32 of the French Open and the US Open (including No. 5 Ruud in the second round of the US Open), and tied with Wu Yiyun and Shang Juncheng for the best record of a Chinese mainland men's tennis player in a Grand Slam singles field so far. On tour, Zhang Zhizhen defeated No. 27 Shapovalov, No. 13 Norrie and No. 10 Fritz at the Madrid Masters to reach the quarterfinals of the Masters for the first time in his career, reached the men's singles quarterfinals at home of the Shanghai Rolex Masters, reached the semi-finals of the ATP 500 at ATP Hamburg for the first time, and won the men's singles gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games. At the end of the season, Zhang Zhizhen improved his world ranking to No.58 and firmly occupied the throne of China's first brother.

Zhang Zhizhen won the men's singles runner-up at the 2024 Hangzhou Tennis Open

Photo: Felix

In 2024, Zhang Zhizhen ushered in the most successful season of his career so far. In singles, Zhang Zhizhen reached the men's singles round of 32 for the second consecutive year at the French Open, won the men's singles runner-up at the ATP Hangzhou Open, and unlocked his second Masters men's singles quarterfinals at the Rome Masters. After beating No.5 Medvedev at ATP Halle to reach the semi-finals, Zhang Zhizhen was ranked No.31 in the world, which helped him secure a seeding spot at Wimbledon and became the first Grand Slam seed in Chinese mainland's men's tennis. In the end, Zhang Zhizhen ended with the year-end ranking No.45.

In doubles, Zhang Zhizhen partnered with Mahachi to win the ATP Marseille men's doubles championship, which was the first doubles championship of the Chinese mainland men's tennis ATP tour; Reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open men's doubles and the quarterfinals of the French Open men's doubles. At the Paris Olympics, Zhang Zhizhen and Wang Xinyu reached the mixed doubles final and finally won the silver medal.

Zhang Zhizhen won the silver medal in mixed doubles tennis at the Paris Olympics

Photo: Visual China

Zhang Zhizhen became the first brother in Asia this week, in addition to his own strength, but also thanks to the top-ranked Kazakhstan star Bublik lost a huge point. Zhang started his journey in the United Cup this season, and after leading China to the quarterfinals for the second year in a row, he suffered a wave of four straight defeats on tour, and although he subsequently reached the quarterfinals of the ATP Marseille men's singles, he also suffered back-to-back defeats in the Middle East.

Compared with Asian neighbors and regions, the rise of men's tennis in Chinese mainland is still in its infancy. In terms of rankings, Thailand's Seri Chapan (best ranked No. 9) has long occupied the No. 1 spot in the Asian men's tennis rankings at the beginning of this century, and after his retirement, Japanese star Kei Nishikori (best ranked No. 4) has risen rapidly and monopolized the throne of Asia's No. 1 brother for decades. In between the ups and downs of Kei Nishikori and the injury suspension, Chinese Taipei's Lu Yanxun (best ranked No. 33) and South Korea's Jung Hyun (best ranked No. 19) also briefly arrived in this position. In recent years, Kazakhstan's Bublik (best ranked No. 17) has been a regular in Asia's No. 1 spot, and Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka (best ranked No. 24) has also been in the spot.

Kei Nishikori

Photo: Visual China

In terms of records, Srichapan, Yoshihito Nishioka and Bublik all have the best Grand Slam men's singles records in the round of 16, Lu Yanxun has reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon men's singles, Zheng Hyun has reached the men's singles semifinals at the Australian Open, and Kei Nishikori is the only Asian Grand Slam men's singles runner-up. All of the above players, except for Lu Yanxun, have ATP Tour singles titles.

Although Wu Yixuan and Shang Juncheng have won ATP Tour singles championships one after another in recent years, Buyun Chaoket has grown rapidly to join the TOP100 camp, and now Zhang Zhizhen has become the first brother in Asia for the first time, there are still many "firsts" waiting for the breakthroughs of the young men in the Chinese mainland men's tennis to unlock. I hope that the Chinese mainland men's tennis can maintain a good momentum, drive away the gloom in the next matches of the season, and face the difficulties!

(Text and editor: Dato)