Nobody plays the odds of 7.50, winning against Sinner, perhaps not even the most passionate Chinese fans. The red-haired Prophet, perhaps also tired and worn out by the surprises of grass, seems unattainable today for Zhang Zhizhen, regardless of the ranking (number 1 against 42) and the results (13 titles to zero, 3-0 this year, with the exceptional seasonal balance of 33/3 against 14/16, and in his career of 223/77 against 44/46), not to mention the official prizes (22, 2056,765 dollars 2,726,049), leaving aside sponsors and greatly influenced in favor of Italian.
At the start of the unprecedented semi-final match in Halle, the 27-year-old from Shanghai excels only in terms of height (1.93 against 1.88) as well as in the monstrous numbers of the followers of his immense country, who are increasingly intrigued by tennis. Because, if it is true that Chinese women paved the way with the first, historic, successes of the heroine Li Na, and then of her sisters, the real physical taboo was broken down precisely by this big boy with daddy’s legs (Zhang WeiHua ) former Shanghai football star and mother’s eye-target coordination (Qin Wei former shooter), forged in the pool, and then set on tennis by the first manager, Ivan Ljubicic in 2016. But, above all, ignored by the media. Because he wasn’t particularly good and wasn’t particularly young, so he learned his skills little by little, also passing through the Italian Challengers: in 2022, victory in Cordenons and final in Trieste.
