Zhizhen Zhang managed to handle home expectation as he defeated Richard Gasquet 6-1 6-2 in his opening match in Shanghai.
Zhang had never managed a win in Shanghai before the victory over the Frenchman as he produced a confident performance to seal a place in the second round.
Although the scoreline looks easy Zhang has to manage high expectations from his home crowd and responded with 27 winners.
The 26 year-old has achieved a record-breaking season as he reached a career-high ranking of 52 in the world and now looks to end the season strong.
Speaking after his ground-breaking win in Shanghai, Zhang admitted that the pressure nearly got to him, “I was very nervous before the match because I had never had a success in Shanghai,” Zhang told the ATP website.
“Finally, in 2023, I got a first win, so I’m super happy about it. It is more pressure, because more people are following me and more people have eyes on me, but I’m happy like this. It’s better than no one seeing you… The fans are super great, as well as my friends and family, so I appreciate them coming [to support me].”
Next up for Zhang it will be 28th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry as the Chinese player looks to continue his momentum from this season.
However there was very little positives for Andy Murray as he was defeated 6-3 6-2 by the in-form Roman Safiullin.
Murray exits the Asian swing with a 1-4 record as he returns to Europe in order to search for more positives ahead of the end of the season.
