My Wimbledon: History-maker Zhang Zhizhen

pZhang Zhizhen, China's highest-ranked male player in history, earned his first a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a main-draw victory in his third appearance on Monday. The 27-year-old reached the semi-finals in Halle and now looks to build upon his grass-court success at the All England Club, where he faces a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jan-lennard-struff/sl28/overview'Jan-Lennard Struff/a in the second round./p

pAt the season's third major, ATPTour.com sat down with the No. 38 player in the PIF ATP Rankings to discuss his earliest a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a memories and his ambitions for this year's edition of The Championships./p

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pstrongWhat is your first memory of watching a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a?/strongbr /

That was Roger against Roddick, 16-14 [in the fifth set]. Thatrsquo;s the one. At the end, I was falling asleep because I was in China. [I was watching] in our club./p

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strongWhat is your first memory of playing at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a?/strongbr /

The first time I passed the qualies in 2021. The first time I played at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a, right away passed the qualies to the main site. In the end, since that, Irsquo;ve lost every single match. So that would be a good memory to stop! I will change that!/p

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strongWhen you first played at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a, what were your early thoughts about the atmosphere?/strongbr /

I was thinking it was a little bit different. Especially qualies from the main-draw site, itrsquo;s always different. Still for me, I donrsquo;t think itrsquo;s winning a match at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a if itrsquo;s from the qualies site [in Roehampton]./p

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strongDo you have a favourite court?/strongbr /

I wish I could play on Centre Court! Irsquo;d prefer in the second or third round, not in the first round please!/p

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strongWhat is your favourite a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a tradition?/strongbr /

Actually I like all the people wearing white. It looks better. I remember this view from the top and you see all the players in white on a grass court, itrsquo;s pretty nice. If itrsquo;s blue, red, some other colours, maybe you donrsquo;t feel itrsquo;s as beautiful. It was a good view. You just have to see who's who, if you see the swing or somehow, itrsquo;s tough./p

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strongWhat is your favourite thing about playing on grass?/strongbr /

With my serve, I can get even more points. More than any other surface. Grass you can [dive] a little. Irsquo;ve never tried, but always in my mind is, 'When I can, try to jump to get the point'./p

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strongAre there a lot of Chinese fans at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a?/strongbr /

Itrsquo;s far away from China. Especially compared to the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/australian-open/580/overview'Australian Open/a, itrsquo;s much less. But I still believe therersquo;s more Chinese people. Last few years I played a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a and I remember near the court, Chinese people all around there./p

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