Zhang Zhizhen: It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t secure a victory on Jay Chou’s birthday.

On January 18th, 2026, Beijing time, the Australian Open kicked off its opening day of competition, with Zhang Zhizhen starting the matches but losing 3-6, 6-7(0), 3-6 to the 18th seed F. Cerundolo, failing to move on to the next round.

Zhang Zhizhen during an interview.

Reviewing the match afterward, Zhang Zhizhen felt it was a pity to be broken early in the first set. Although he gradually found his rhythm in the second set, losing the first few points in the tiebreak and some careless net play halted his momentum, and by the third set, he was already at a disadvantage. “In any case, it’s indeed a bit regrettable,” Zhang said.

Zhang also mentioned that F. Cerundolo’s use of drop shots and return game were excellent today. “He played the drop shots really well, only missing one or so, and the rest were very precise. I didn’t have many chances. I also think his return game was quite strong. My serving had issues with a lower success rate in certain games, which is something I want to improve.”

The two players first met in 2019 and faced each other three more times in the following years. Zhang recalled their previous matches: “I don’t remember much about the first encounter, but the last two were on grass courts, which feel completely different from hard or clay courts. His baseline game has always impressed me as very solid, and his returns are indeed good.”

“I clearly remember it was the last round of Wimbledon, best of five sets. The first two sets went quickly, and I was able to put a lot of pressure on him. He only broke my serve once in the third set and gradually improved. Actually, playing on hard courts now is even tougher because he makes very few errors from the baseline and doesn’t give me many free points. So every point requires me to build carefully, using the initial shots to create scoring opportunities.”

In this match, the Mandarin pop superstar Jay Chou, who turned 47 today, along with Shawn Yue and Wu Zun, came to the stadium box to cheer for Zhang Zhizhen. Although Zhang was unable to celebrate his friend’s birthday with a win, he expressed his regret: “It’s a pity I couldn’t win on his birthday. I’m very happy that he and my friends, Le Ge (Shawn Yue) and Zun Ge (Wu Zun), could watch my match from the box. I’m very grateful to them as their time is precious. I hope to perform better next time!”

(Text and editing by Dato, photos by Huang Shangyue)