Zhang Zhizhen upsets Daniil Medvedev at Halle Open, Alexander Zverev advances
Zhang is the first Chinese player to reach the Halle quarterfinals, after scoring his first Top 10 win since last year's US Open.
HALLE, Germany (AP) — Zhang Zhizhen recorded his third career victory over a Top 10 opponent when he upset third-seeded Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (5) at the grass-court Halle Open on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old Zhang, who is ranked No. 42, trailed 3-5 in the third-set tiebreaker before winning four straight points against the fifth-ranked Medvedev.
Zhang is the first Chinese player to reach the Halle quarterfinals. He hadn't beaten a Top-10 opponent since defeating then-No. 5 Casper Ruud at last year's US Open.
Also Wednesday, second-seeded Alexander Zverev beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 7-6 (5). Zverev, a German who is ranked No. 4, improved to 4-0 against Sonego. Zverev is a two-time finalist at Halle.
Earlier, Jan-Lennard Struff overcame a strong challenge from grass-court debutant Luciano Darderi, who saved nine match points before bowing out.
Struff, who hit 21 aces, was a break down in the decider but rallied past his rival 6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-6 (10) after fending off a match point in the final tiebreaker.
Struff, who needed 2 hours and 31 minutes to prevail, will next take on Stefanos Tsitsipas.
It was Darderi's first grass-court match on the ATP Tour. Darderi grabbed the spotlight in February when he won the title in Cordoba as a qualifier. He is now ranked 34th.