Zhang Zhizhen followed up his superb win over Daniil Medvedev at the Halle Open by beating Chris Eubanks yesterday.
The 27-year-old is now the first Chinese player to reach a grass semi-final in the modern era.
Lots of players find playing on the grass tricky but Zhizhen has appeared comfortable over the last few weeks or so.
There is no respite for the talented player as he faces world number one Jannik Sinner in today’s semi-final.
After beating Eubanks, the player from Shanghai delivered a verdict on his game and he’s actually surprised himself somewhat.
What Zhang Zhizhen has said after reaching Halle Open semi-final
Zhizhen has now broken into the top 50 for the first time after turning professional in 2012.
He’s currently ranked at 42 in the world and he will now be looking to take some heart from his Halle showing this week.
The player will have his sights set on Wimbledon already as he looks to win a match at SW19 for the very first time.
Last year he was beaten by Dutch player Botic van de Zandschlup in five sets and he will want to progress this year.
Speaking after beating Eubanks, Zhizhen admits he was a little bit shocked by something that happened on the court.
He said live on court after the game: “It’s really surprising. I’m always saying I like grass but I thought my grass tennis wasn’t really good. Maybe even better on clay. But I don’t like the clay. But whatever.
“Today, it’s not even 50-50 really, I would say. I was super lucky. Even yesterday in the third set I was 4-1 down. It’s really important that you play point-by-point and don’t look too far ahead.
“You don’t have time to think too much. You try to fight for every point and try to stay in the match and that’s what I did.”
Zhizhen has served notice to the rest of the tour ahead of Wimbledon
Although many players might have viewed Zhizhen has a decent draw going into Wimbledon, that won’t be the case any longer.
Beating Medvedev and Eubanks means that the rest of the tour will now be on notice that Zhizhen has a decent grass court game
At 27, the player still has some time to continue improving and he will be hoping to make China proud in the future.
Zhizhen will face a tough task today against the in-form Sinner and that will be a true test of his mettle.
However, after his wins already this week, Zhizhen can’t be discounted and the match looks like a fascinating prospect.
Halle isn’t an easy tournament to play in with some seriously tough players in the mix for the title.
Now, Zhizhen has given himself a fighting chance and if he can be Sinner, he really will fancy his chances of a first victory at Wimbledon in the coming weeks.
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