French Open: Zhang continues to break through barriers, Wang prevails on good day for Chinese pair at Roland Garros
- Zhang Zhizhen downs Thiago Agustin Tirante in straight sets to become first Chinese player to reach third round of men’s singles since 1937
- Wang Xinyu also into next round, where she will face world No 1 Iga Swiatek
Zhang Zhizhen has broken through another barrier for Chinese tennis, becoming the country’s first player to reach the third round of the men’s singles since 1937.
The 26-year-old claimed a straight-sets win over Thiago Agustin Tirante, beating the Argentinian 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 21 minutes.
It was a good day all round for China, with Wang Xinyu also reaching the next stage in the women’s singles.
Zhang called the result “a big victory” and said moments like that “were not easy”.
“Here I’m trying to show my best … show everything I have and try to compete with those guys,” he said.
Zhang, who reached the quarter-finals at the Madrid Masters, squandered a match point in the ninth game of the third set, but recovered to serve for the victory with a love game.
Next up for the world No71 is last year’s runner-up and fourth seed, Casper Ruud of Norway, who overcame Italian Giulio Zeppieri to progress.
“I have nothing to lose against a player like him, and it will be a game at one of the central courts,” Zhang said. “It is a privilege to play in the central court in a grand slam, I just plan to enjoy it.
Despite making history, Zhang, who is the first Chinese man to play in the main draw of all four grand slams, was not getting carried away with his win.
“I don’t want to celebrate a lot after the first, or the second round, so you can see that I’m calm after winning the match,” he said. “It’s not a semi-final or the final, so I don’t want to go too crazy after it. I mean we should look for more.”
Wang’s reward for beating Rebecca Peterson of Sweden in a gruelling encounter is a meeting with women’s world No 1 Iga Swiatek.
It took the 21-year-old 1½ hours to win the first set 7-6, during which she squandered four set points at 5-3 and another at 5-4, saved three from her opponent at 6-5, before finally winning the tiebreak at 7-5.
The Chinese player was far more commanding in the second set, reeling off three straight games to take it 6-2.
“I maintained patience in the match, even in the first set when I trailed. I just told myself that I could do it, then it happened,” Wang said.
Next up is Swiatek, who turned 22 on Wednesday and defeated Claire Liu to secure her berth in the third round.
“We are the same age, and we used to meet each other in many junior competitions,” said Wang, who faced the Polish player five years ago in the girls’ semi-final at Wimbledon, a match she lost 7-5, 7-6.
“That was a good match, we both played very well. Now she is one of the top players, I’m really looking forward to playing against her on Saturday.”
