Zhizhen Zhang is the only surprise semi-finalist at the 31st TERRA WORTMANN OPEN. Alongside the three top ten players Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Hubert Hurkacz, he was the only unseeded player to reach the final round. He defeated Christopher Eubanks from the USA 6:4, 4:6, 7:5.
The man from Shanghai immediately set the pace in the first set. He broke for 4:2 and served it home almost effortlessly. After just 28 minutes it was 6:4 in the last quarter-final of the day. He was on his way to setting another record for Chinese tennis. He already holds several, including being the first Chinese player in the world's top 50.
But his opponent Christopher Eubanks belongs to a dying breed of tennis players. He can be described as a grass specialist. He won the tournament on Mallorca in 2023 and then stormed through to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, where he was unlucky to lose to Daniil Medvedev in five sets. However, he has only won 4 out of 16 matches this year. Until the two-metre giant came to Halle. Where they play on grass. He took the defending champion Alexander Bublik out of the tournament. And lo and behold, set two went to the American. He broke for 6:4.
And now the rascal from Atlanta had found his rhythm on his favourite surface. While he had his service games well under control, the man with the shaggy mane from the Middle Kingdom wobbled. Zhang no longer played as consistently. Eubanks broke again to make it 4:2.
But when he served for the match a little later, his game fell apart completely. Perhaps nervousness is one of the reasons why he so rarely wins. Zhang recognised this, put the pressure on and managed to re-break to nil. And in his opponent's next service game, he had break point again and again grabbed it. The 5:2 in favour of Eubanks became 6:5 for Zhang. He now served confidently to the end. And thus became the first Chinese player to reach a semi-final on grass since the beginning of the Open Era in tennis in 1968.
The toughest possible task now awaits: the world number one Jannik Sinner. But it's all about setting new records for China, so why not?
