Explainer | Wimbledon 2021: Who is Zhang Zhizhen? The sleep loving Roger Federer fan making history for Chinese tennis

China’s No 1 men’s singles tennis player Zhang Zhizhen has made history by qualifying for the first round of this year’s Wimbledon. He will become the first Chinese man to play at the All-England Club since the Open Era began in 1968 and only the fourth Chinese man to appear at a grand slam. Zhang follows in the footsteps of Wu Di (2013, 2014, 2016), Zhang Ze (2014, 2015) and Li Zhe (2019) – all of whom played at the Australian Open. If he wins at Wimbledon then Zhang will have bettered the record of his predecessors in Chinese men’s tennis by progressing past the first round and the world will want to know more about the world No 178. So who is he and how did he get here? Zhang Zhizhen makes history for China The 24-year-old will be the first Chinese man in the Open Era to play in the main draw of @Wimbledon He defeated Francisco Cerundolo 6-0, 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(6) in the final round of qualifying on Thursday pic.twitter.com/gVQ1d4JBPY — ITF (@ITFTennis) June 25, 2021 Zhang was born in Shanghai and both his parents were athletes. His father is former Shanghai Shenhua defender Zhang Weihua, who retired in 2004, and his mother is former shooter Qin Wei. The youngster started playing at four with the ATP Tour website saying his father did not want him to play football. Sohu Sports reported in 2013 that Zhang could beat his father at tennis at aged 7. Zhang becomes first Chinese man to play at Wimbledon in Open era He was also in swimming classes and chose between the sports when he was six. “My parents wanted me to play an individual sport,” he told CNN last year. “My swimming coach was really strict so when I had to pick between either when I was six, I chose tennis. It looked like the easier option then. Now, I know it‘s far from that.” He was a member of the Shanghai team by the age of 12 and in 2012 he turned pro. The following year he won the men’s doubles gold at the China National Games with Wu Di. rising! Zhang Zhizhen lifts his maiden in Jinan, becoming the fourth Chinese champion in #ATPChallenger history. pic.twitter.com/9NkWJ2Vhao — ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) September 8, 2019 His idol is Roger Federer and he even shared a court with the Swiss superstar back in 2016, at a practice session in Monte Carlo. “I don‘t think he (Federer) even knew who I was,” Zhang told CNN in 2020. “At the end of the session, he came up and spoke to me but I was just so star-struck and tongue-tied that I don’t even recall what I said.” Zhang told the ATP Tour website that his nickname is “ZZZ” – “My full name is too hard for people to say, so I just tell them to say whatever they want to call me and I will respond. Then it became ’ZZZ’ because there are three Zs in my name. It is much easier for people outside of China to say. And it sounds cool. Triple-Z. I also like to sleep, so ’ZZZ’ is perfect.” Party time for Chinese tennis shows struggle since Li Na flew solo Aside from sleeping, Zhang lists his interests as listening to Chinese and Western pop music, as well as playing video games. What do other players say? Back in 2019 Andy Murray and Dominic Thiem were impressed with his performance at the China Open in Beijing, with Thiem tipping him to crack the world top 100. His career best No 136 last year is the highest achieved by a Chinese player in the men’s singles ranking, beating the previous best of sometime doubles partner Wu. It's a second #ATPChallenger for Zhang Zhizhen! The rises to a career-high No. 141, one spot off China's highest ATP Ranking (Wu Di in 2016). pic.twitter.com/mHRydw8fYj — ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) November 3, 2019 Has Zhang been close to qualifying for a slam before? This year’s Wimbledon is his fourth attempt to qualify for a slam, coming after the French Open last month. Zhang reached a career best second qualifying round at Roland-Garros after beating Italy’s Lorenzo Giustino over three sets before losing to Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk. Zhang Zhizhen is the champion in Shenzhen! The first ever all-Chinese Challenger championship goes to the Shanghai native 63 46 61 over Li Zhe. pic.twitter.com/WIZemsnqEp — ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) November 3, 2019 How did he qualify for Wimbledon? He beat the Argentine Francisco Cerundolo in an epic encounter to qualify, winning 6-0 6-3 6-7, 7-6. He had earlier beaten Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo – 6-1, 6-1 – and Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas – also 6-1, 6-1 –not dropping a set in either. Win for China’s No 1 man Zhang fuels hope of debut French Open Who is he playing at Wimbledon? The 24-year-old faces world No 156 Andreas Hoang of France on Monday at SW19 in only the second meeting between the pair and the first time on grass. His head to head record with Hoang is 1-0 to the French player, having won at the clay court Francavilla Challenger in Italy in April, 2018. If China’s No 1 can level their career record at 1-1 then he will have made history.