The Resilience Of Zhang Zhizhen: ‘It Couldn’t Break Me’

‘Triple Z’ was well on his way to triple heartbreak.

Zhang Zhizhen led home favourite J.J. Wolf two sets to love and 3-0 in the third set on Monday at the US Open and later in the set served for the match. Suddenly, the Chinese star found himself in a deciding set at the season’s final major.

It was eerily similar to two other matches he has played in the past year. In the first round of the 2022 US Open, Zhang let slip seven match points against Tim van Rijthoven. In the opening round of this year’s Australian Open, he was unable to convert a match point against Ben Shelton, who eventually reached the quarter-finals.

“Those tough matches, when you lose, there are actually so many things you can learn and so many things you can improve, which just makes you stronger,” Zhang told ATPTour.com. “That’s first, because from my mental [side], some people say I have a weak mental side. But I think I’m a tough guy, strong guy, because all the time I lost those tough matches, and it still couldn’t break me.

“So it is a good thing and then you go the next step and just go looking for the next match and then you improve. Especially when you lose those [matches], you know how to deal with it.”

Zhang, who also lost a five-setter at Wimbledon this year to Botic van de Zandschulp, would not be denied again. Despite letting slip a big lead against Wolf, he held his nerve for a 7-5, 7-5, 6-7(5), 4-6, 6-3 victory.

“It was a little bit of a different experience of five sets, and also a little bit of a different result,” Zhang said. “In the third set there were chances, but not many because he was playing super great in the third set… This third set was a joke. It has not happened many times in my life, I think in his life also.

“The fifth set, it was tough to hold, especially the first game was 0/40. I’m super happy that I didn’t give up in that moment.”

It would have been normal for Zhang to think back to the big leads he has been unable to capitalise on. Instead of dwelling, he went to the toilet to change his clothes and returned to the court refreshed.

“I was saying, ‘Okay, this year to beat me three sets straight, that’s tough,’” Zhang recalled. “I was thinking like this. I was believing myself. Three sets, at least I can win one set. I was pretty confident, actually.”

The 26-year-old added: “I didn’t think any of last year about those sh** things. Sh** happens to me. But just like when I lost the third set I said, ‘Okay, today’s again tough, it’s not an easy match. I have to go.’”

At last year’s US Open, Zhang was No. 137 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and no Chinese man had ever cracked the world’s Top 100. Despite his disappointing exit at Flushing Meadows, Zhang made history by reaching that milestone in October.

After another setback in Australia against Shelton, Zhang could have fallen into a funk. But instead, he showed his resilience and has enjoyed the best season of his career, climbing to a career-high No. 52 in July.

“Those matches when you lose, many times there’s one or two points’ difference, so it’s a lot of things on the important points and how you decide how to hit the ball and how to be prepared for those points,” Zhang said. “You don’t rush too much and then you don’t go too safe. So you have to find a balance. This you need to learn from the matches.

“From the practice, you will never find the solution because in practice you play points, but you cannot really get the pressure in that moment. Once you play the match, you play more matches, and then you know how the pressure is in that moment, and then how to play the points.”

No panic. No capitulation. Only resilience. That is what Zhang showed against Wolf. In doing so, the 26-year-old proved just how far he has come.

“This year and last year are different. Maybe I am just a little bit more experienced and more mature, more calm during a match. Maybe,” Zhang said. “I know when I get nervous, but maybe I know how to release the problem, to get out of the way, just to figure out the problem.”

Zhang will try to do so again in the second round when he plays fifth seed Casper Ruud.