![\"Zhang](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/zhang-shanghai-2025-feature.jpg\")
<\/p>\n Tournament Feature
\n History-maker Zhang ready to reignite in Shanghai<\/p>\n
Zhang is only Chinese player to reach last 16 at home ATP Masters 1000 event<\/p>\n
September 30, 2025<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Zhang Zhizhen will be joined in the Shanghai field by countrymen Shang Juncheng, Wu Yibing, Buyunchaokete and Zhou Yi.
\n By Sam Jacot<\/p>\n
Back on court and growing in belief, Zhang Zhizhen<\/a> returns to his hometown this fortnight for the Rolex Shanghai Masters<\/a>, eager to rekindle the magic that made him a history-maker just two years ago.<\/p>\n Zhang was sidelined for six months this year with a shoulder issue, but is fit again now and ready to return to a venue steeped in personal and national significance.<\/p>\n Zhang\u2019s rise hit new heights in 2023, a breakthrough year in which the Shanghai native rewrote the record books for Chinese tennis. He became the first Chinese man to reach the quarter-finals at an ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid, later soaring to a then-career-high No. 52 in the PIF ATP Rankings.<\/p>\n His run continued on the Grand Slam stage at the US Open<\/a>, where he stunned Casper Ruud<\/a> to become the first man from China to topple a Top 5 opponent.<\/p>\n The dream summer led him to Shanghai, where the hometown hero fed off local support to surge into the fourth round, another national first at this level. He overcame Richard Gasquet<\/a>, Tomas Martin Etcheverry<\/a> and Brandon Nakashima<\/a> before falling to eventual champion Hubert Hurkacz<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf people are watching us do something and then trying to follow us, that\u2019s great news for us,\u201d Zhang told ATPTour.com earlier this season. \u201cMost Chinese people are watching table tennis or badminton at the Olympics, not tennis. But suddenly they\u2019re watching live on TV.<\/p>\n \u201cRight away, more people are knowing us and more people are trying to play, trying to learn. That\u2019s really good.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch Zhang Defeat Nakashima To Make Shanghai History In 2023:<\/p>\n Zhang\u2019s efforts have laid a powerful foundation for the next generation. In 2024, Zhang broke into the Top 50, climbing to No. 31, a new high-water mark for Chinese men\u2019s tennis. He also reached his maiden ATP Tour final in Hangzhou and advanced to another Masters 1000 quarter-final in Rome.<\/p>\n Now 28, Zhang is eyeing a strong finish to 2025 after returning to Tour earlier this month in Hangzhou with a confidence-boosting win over countryman Buyunchaokete<\/a>. And there\u2019s no better place to continue that comeback than in Shanghai.<\/p>\n He won\u2019t be alone at the hard-court tournament. Zhang leads a strong Chinese contingent into the season\u2019s penultimate Masters 1000 event, where he will be joined by countrymen Shang Juncheng<\/a>, Wu Yibing<\/a> and Zhou Yi<\/a>.<\/p>\n #NextGenATP Shang is also rebuilding after a six-month layoff due to a foot injury. The 20-year-old lefty made a splash last season by winning his first ATP title in Chengdu, reaching a career-high No. 47. Last year, Shang reached the second round in Shanghai.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Wu continues his own resurgence. The 25-year-old, who made history at the 2023 Dallas Open<\/a> as China\u2019s first ATP Tour titlist, reached the semi-finals in Hangzhou earlier this month and captured his sixth ATP Challenger title in June. In 2024, he enjoyed a third-round run on home soil in Shanghai.<\/p>\n \u201cIt means everything, especially at home,\u201d Wu said after his Hangzhou run. \u201cIt\u2019s been a long couple of years. I\u2019ve had to fight through so much physically. Winning three matches in a row here really meant a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n Defending champion Jannik Sinner<\/a>, World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> and Serbian Novak Djokovic<\/a> lead a stacked field in Shanghai, where the tournament runs from 1-12 October.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tournament Feature History-maker Zhang ready to reignite in Shanghai Zhang is only Chinese player to reach last 16…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-172028","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"It](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1759293909_156_it-all-adds-up-banner.jpg\"\/)
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