Zhang Zhizhen

Early life In 1996, Zhang was born to a sports family in Shanghai. His father Zhang Weihua (张卫华) played football in the Chinese Jia-A League as a defender for Shanghai Shenhua. From age 4 to age 6, he had two weekly swimming classes at kindergarten, and his parents enrolled him to tennis lessons in the weekends. When he reached elementary school, his parents let him decide which one of the two sports to continue. He chose tennis because the swimming teachers were strict, partly because of their responsibility of ensuring swimming safety. From 2008 to 2013, he was coached by Shao Donglu (邵东路). On the 26th of November, 2017, after defeating Te Rigele in a three-set final, Zhang won the China Tennis Grand Prix Cup title for the first time. With his newfound success at both the Futures and Tour Levels, Zhang finished 2017 ranked in the top 350.

2018: ATP Challenger semifinal Zhang spent the first half of 2018 losing early on both the 2018 ATP Challenger Tour and the 2018 ITF Men's Circuit. Zhang reached a sixth futures final, losing to Jelle Sels in Casina. Zhang's surge in form continued, with a semifinal appearance at the 2018 Jinan International Open. Zhang then lost to Andy Murray in Shenzhen, retiring due to injury halfway through the third set. Zhang recovered in time for both the 2018 China Open, and the 2018 Shanghai Rolex Masters, although he failed to win matches in either.

2019: Two Challenger titles, China's No. 1 player, top 150 debut Zhang started his 2019 season with back-to-back quarterfinal showings on the 2019 ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. Zhang then transitioned to the 2019 ATP Challenger Tour, where he reached the round of sixteen in Anning, followed by a quarterfinal loss to Ramkumar Ramanathan at the 2019 ATP Challenger China International – Nanchang. Zhang lost early in his next three challenger tournaments. June's Columbus Challenger saw Zhang return to the later rounds, with another quarterfinal defeat. Zhang's fifth quarterfinal (including both the Futures and Challenger tours' tournaments) was also a defeat; he fell to Bai Yan at the 2019 Chengdu Challenger.

The fall hard-court swing saw Zhang's best results to date. He won the 2019 Jinan International Open, beating top one-hundred player Soonwoo Kwon en route. He also reached the second round of both the 2019 Zhuhai Championships and the 2019 China Open, with the latter being a loss to top-five player and eventual champion Dominic Thiem.

October handed Zhang his ATP Tour Masters 1000 main draw debut: a defeat to Hubert Hurkacz at the 2019 Rolex Shanghai Masters. Zhang concluded October with a second Challenger crown, ousting Li Zhe in the final round of the 2019 Shenzhen Longhua Open.

Zhang finished 2019 ranked 138. A career high year-end ranking.

2020–2021: Historic Wimbledon debut Zhang skipped most of the already abridged 2020 ATP Tour season. He played and lost in the first round of the 2020 Tata Open Maharashtra, and failed to progress past qualifying at the 2020 Dubai Tennis Championships. After the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, Zhang did not play again until the following year.

Zhang started his 2021 year with a first-round loss at the 2021 İstanbul Challenger, and a second round loss in Dubai, ending his hopes of qualifying for the 2021 Australian Open (the qualifiers were held in Dubai due to coronavirus restrictions and concerns). Grinding through the 2021 ATP Challenger Tour with few victories, Zhang's drought ended with a semifinal placing at the Biella Challenger Indoor. Zhang fell short of qualifying for the 2021 French Open, thus concluding his clay season.

After playing (and losing in the second round) at the 2021 Nottingham Trophy, Zhang qualified for a Grand Slam main draw at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships; his first appearance in a main draw at a Major level. He became the first male Chinese in the Open Era to qualify at Wimbledon. He was also only the fourth Chinese man to play singles in the main draw of any Grand Slam since 1968, with the others being Wu Di at the Australian Open in 2013, 2014 and 2016, Zhang Ze at the Australian Open in 2014 and 2015, and Li Zhe at the 2019 Australian Open. Zhang next travelled to Braunschweig with a special exemption entry into the Brawo Open. Zhang would reach the semifinals in Braunschweig, defeating world No. 51, Pedro Martínez, and 2018 French Open semifinalist Marco Cecchinato. Maximilian Marterer bested Zhang in a three-set match to reach the final, despite Zhang holding numerous match points.

Zhang entered the 2022 Internazionali di Tennis Città di Trieste Challenger as a qualifier, defeating fifth-seeded Marco Cecchinato and eighth-seeded Alexandre Müller en route to the final, where he lost to Francesco Passaro despite clinching the first set. Zhang re-entered the top-200 for the first time since he injured himself at the 2021 Hamburg European Open. Zhang reached a second straight Challenger Tour final at the 2022 Internazionali di Tennis del Friuli Venezia Giulia in Cordenons, Italy upsetting fourth seed Pavel Kotov in the first round, and Alexandre Müller in the semifinals to reach the final. It was Zhang's third Challenger final in one month, and the fifth of his career. He rallied after losing the first set against Andrea Vavassori, defeating the home-crowd favorite in three sets to lift the title – Zhang's first Challenger title in nearly three years. Zhang rose to world No. 157 in the ATP rankings following Cordenons, his highest ranking in two and a half years.

At his first hardcourt tournament in Poland since June, Zhang reached the final defeating former junior number one Harold Mayot in the semifinals, as well as ATP Tour champion Robin Haase in the final eight. He lost to fifth seed Tomáš Macháč in the final, despite winning the first set, six games to one. Zhang’s run elevated his ranking to No. 138, placing him within two spots of his career-high ranking.

He made his debut at the US Open, qualifying for the main draw alongside his friend Yibing Wu, making history for his country. He narrowly missed being the first Chinese male national to win a major main-draw match in 63 years after losing to Tim van Rijthoven, failing to convert seven match points in the third set.

At the 2022 Astana Open he qualified into the main draw and defeated Aslan Karatsev for his second ATP 500-level win. He lost to fifth seed Andrey Rublev in the second round. As a result he reached a new career-high ranking of No. 110 on 10 October 2022. After qualifying for Naples, Zhang beat Márton Fucsovics and sixth seed Sebastián Báez in straight sets to reach his first ATP Tour-level quarterfinal for the season and first since 2017. As a result, he became the first Chinese male player in the Open era to reach the top 100.

2023: First Major, Masters wins and historic singles quarterfinal, top 5 win, first ATP semifinal At the 2023 Mutua Madrid Open he got his first Masters win over qualifier Jurij Rodionov. He then defeated 21st seed Denis Shapovalov for his first top 30 win, to reach the third round of a Masters for the first time in his career. Next he defeated world No. 13 and eleventh seed Cameron Norrie for his first top 20 win to reach a historic fourth round. He saved three match points in his first top 10 win over eight seed Taylor Fritz to become the first Chinese man in history to reach the quarterfinals at a Masters tournament. Zhang was just the second Chinese player in history to beat a Top 10 player, after Wu Yibing, who also defeated Fritz earlier in the year. He lost to Aslan Karatsev in the quarterfinals in two sets.

At the French Open, he advanced to the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time, after his first round opponent, Dušan Lajović retired after Zhang took the first set 6-1, and led 4-1 in the second set, becoming the first Chinese man to win at Roland Garros in 86 years. Next he defeated qualifier Thiago Agustín Tirante to reach the third round of this Major for the first time since Kho Sin-Kie in 1937. As a result he moved to a new career high singles ranking in the top 55. He also made his Major debut in doubles as an alternate pair with Victor Vlad Cornea. In Eastbourne, he defeated Lorenzo Sonego in the first round, then Maxime Cressy in a thrilling three set match to advance to the quarterfinals, bringing him up to a career high ranking of No. 52, becoming the highest ever ranked male Chinese tennis player, passing Wu Yibing's record of No. 54. He lost in the quarterfinals to Francisco Cerúndolo. In Hamburg, he reached the quarterfinals of an ATP 500 for the first time in his career defeating Jan Choinski and upsetting World No. 45 Yannick Hanfmann in three sets. He then went on to reach his first ever ATP semifinal, defeating Daniel Altmaier in straight sets. In the semifinals, he lost to Laslo Djere in straight sets.

At the US Open he reached the third round defeating JJ Wolf and fifth seed Casper Ruud in five sets and becoming the first Chinese man to beat a top-5 player.

At the Asian Games in Hangzhou, Zhang, as the top seed, beat Ammar Alhogbani, Muhammad Rifqi Fitriadi, fifth seed Sumit Nagal and 13th seed Khumoyun Sultanov to reach the gold medal match. Despite being down two breaks in both sets, he defeated second seed Yosuke Watanuki in straight sets to claim the gold medal.

At the 2023 Rolex Shanghai Masters he reached the third round, the first Chinese player to do so at his home tournament and to claim back to back wins at the home Masters 1000, defeating Richard Gasquet and 28th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry. Next he defeated Brandon Nakashima to reach a historic fourth round on home soil.

2024: Historic Major doubles semifinal, Olympics mixed doubles silver, ATP singles final and doubles title He made his debut at the 2024 United Cup as the top ATP player of team China and the highest ranked man from an East Asian country in history. He recorded his first win over Jiří Lehečka.

He also recorded his first win at the 2024 Australian Open over Federico Coria, before losing to 21st seed Ugo Humbert. As a result, he reached a historic top 50 in the singles rankings. In doubles, on his debut, he reached the quarterfinals with Tomáš Macháč taking out the 2020 champions and third seeds, Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury. Next he reached the semifinals defeating Ariel Behar and Adam Pavlásek becoming the first Chinese man to reach the last four at a Grand Slam.

On his debut at the Italian Open, he reached his second clay Masters quarterfinal and second overall, defeating Daniel Elahi Galán, 19th seed Adrian Mannarino, 12th seed Ben Shelton and qualifier Thiago Monteiro.

Following reaching his second ATP Tour semifinal at the 2024 Halle Open, where he lost to top seed Jannik Sinner, he reached a new career-high at world No. 33 on 24 June 2024.

He won the silver medal with Wang Xinyu in mixed doubles at the 2024 Summer olympics.

At the 2024 Hangzhou Open, he reached his third and an historic all-Chinese semifinal with compatriot Bu Yunchaokete, following wins over Denis Yevseyev, Mattia Bellucci and Roberto Carballés Baena. He defeated Buyunchaokete to reach his first ATP Tour singles final. He was bidding to become only the third Chinese title winner in the Open Era after Wu Yibing, together with Shang Juncheng, who was also a finalist in Chengdu the same day but lost to Marin Čilić the next day.

Performance timelines

Singles Current through the 2026 BMW Open.

Significant finals

Summer Olympics Mixed doubles: 1 (silver medal)

Other significant finals

Asian Games Singles: 1 (gold medal)

ATP Tour finals Singles: 1 (1 runner-up) LegendGrand Slam (0–0)ATP Masters 1000 (0–0)ATP 500 (0–0)ATP 250 (0–1)Finals by surfaceHard (0–1)Clay (0–0)Grass (0–0)Finals by settingOutdoor (0–1)Indoor (0–0)

Doubles: 1 (1 title) LegendGrand Slam (0–0)ATP Masters 1000 (0–0)ATP 500 (0–0)ATP 250 (1–0)Finals by surfaceHard (1–0)Clay (0–0)Grass (0–0)Finals by settingOutdoor (0–0)Indoor (1–0)

ATP Challenger Tour finals

Singles: 4 (7 titles, 3 runner-ups) LegendATP Challenger Tour (4–3)Finals by surfaceHard (3–1)Clay (1–2)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)

Doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups) LegendATP Challenger Tour (2–2)Finals by surfaceHard (2–1)Clay (0–1)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)

ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour finals

Singles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runner-ups) LegendITF Futures (2–4)Finals by surfaceHard (1–2)Clay (1–2)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)

Doubles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runner-ups) LegendITF Futures/WTT (2–4)Finals by surfaceHard (2–3)Clay (0–1)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)

Record against top 10 players Zhang has a record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.