A strong start in the Year of the Horse! Zhang Zhizhen advances to the second round in Doha singles, set to face Monchik.

On February 17 local time, the ATP 500 Doha event continued with the men’s singles opening round. Zhang Zhizhen from China overcame Spanish qualifier Baena with a 6-4, 6-4 victory to reach the second round, securing a strong start to the Year of the Horse.

Zhang Zhizhen Photo: Huang Shangyue

Zhang Zhizhen entered the main singles draw of this tournament using a protected ranking and was drawn against a qualifier in the first round, later revealed to be Spain’s Baena. Their head-to-head record stood at 1-1 before this match. Zhang maintained the excellent form that led him to win the Brisbane Challenger, dominating with his serve. He faced only one break point early in the first set and saved it successfully, then quickly raised his level, leaving Baena with few chances. His first-serve win rate was 88%, including 10 aces throughout the match.

In other completed matches, Greek player Tsitsipas defeated wildcard Eshaji 6-4, 6-4 and will face Medvedev in the next round. This clash between the “friendly rivals” will be one of the highlights of the second round. Seventh seed Khachanov won a three-set battle 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 against lucky loser Mochizuki Shintaro. Malosan, Lehecka, and Fucsovics also advanced by defeating their respective opponents.

Zhang Zhizhen Photo: Li Jianyi

Zhang Zhizhen’s next opponent is sixth seed Monchik. The Czech player is the first from the post-2005 generation to win a Masters 1000 singles title and has reached a career-high ranking of 16. He made the round of 16 at this year’s Australian Open but withdrew due to an abdominal injury. This will be their first meeting, and we look forward to Zhang continuing his strong form and achieving new success!

(Written and edited by: Sunny)