China's Zhang Zhizhen knocked out in Wimbledon first round

LONDON -- China's Zhang Zhizhen missed the chance to make history again as the world No. 52 was knocked out by Botic Van De Zandschulp of the Netherlands in a five-set thriller in the opening round at Wimbledon on Thursday.

The match, which commenced on Tuesday, had been postponed twice due to continuous rainfall at the All England Club. Van De Zandschulp, who reached the fourth round here last year, came from one set down to clinch the victory 2-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-2 after four hours and one minute.

Before coming to the grass-court swing, 26-year-old Zhang had passed many milestones on the red dirt - becoming the first Chinese men's player in the Open Era to reach the quarterfinals at an ATP1000 tournament and advancing to the third round at the French Open. Coming into Wimbledon, he was looking to become the first Chinese mainland men's player to win a singles main draw match at the grass-court major.

The opening set went well for Zhang, who converted three break points to dominate the set. He continued his momentum in the second as an early break put him 4-1 ahead, but it was after this point that the Dutchman started his fightback.

"I went into the match very quickly, playing well until the middle of the second set. But he responded and adjusted also very well," Zhang said.

Van De Zandschulp won three games in a row to level the scores before prevailing in the tiebreak, and then winning another tiebreak in the third set to get the upper hand.

Zhang bounced back in the fourth set, surging to a 6-3 win to take the match into a deciding set.

"I felt satisfied with my performance, especially after losing two tiebreaks, I was able to come back and win another set to earn myself a chance in the decider. This is good for me," Zhang said.

The Shanghai-born player made his Wimbledon main draw debut in 2021 when he came through the qualifiers, losing his first-round match against France's Antoine Hoang after a five-set battle. He then lost another two five-set matches in the 2022 US Open and 2023 Australian Open, before finally cracking the first-round barrier in a major tournament in Paris last month.

"Despite falling in the fifth set again, I think it was different from previous experiences. I can learn more from this, and not only be angry about myself," Zhang added.

After being broken in the second game of the decider, Zhang had chances to break back in the following game but he wasted three break points at 40-0 which cost him his hopes of levelling the score.

Zhang managed to save a match point in the eighth game at 40-15, but an unforced error at the net handed victory to his opponent.

In a women's second-round match, China's Wang Xinyu lost to 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-3, suffering the third defeat against the former world No. 4 in as many matches.

"The three meetings were all very close, she gave me a lot of pressure from the baseline, and my serving was not stable today," said Wang, who had suffered a first-round exit in 2021 and had to withdraw from the tournament before the main draw due to injury last year.

Kenin will next play Elina Svitolina for a place in the round of 16.