Zhizhen Zhang becomes first-ever Chinese man to enter top 100 in ATP Rankings

Zhizhen Zhang became the first ever Chinese man to break into the ATP top 100 despite losing his Naples quarterfinal with Mackenzie McDonald on Friday.

FILE PHOTO: China’s Zhang Zhizhen became the first-ever man from his country to make it to top 100 in the latest ATP Rankings released on Monday.

Zhang Zhizhen became the first ever Chinese man to break into the ATP top 100 next week despite losing his Naples quarterfinal with Mackenzie McDonald on Friday.

The 26-year-old, regardless of his 6-4, 3-6, 2-6 loss to American McDonald, jumped 12 places to become World No. 97 as the results in other tournaments went his way.

Zhang started last week at a career-high 109 in the world and was bidding to become the second Chinese man to reach a tour-level semifinal in the open era -- or since 1968 -- after Pan Bing in Seoul in 1995.

Chinese women have long been high ranked with Li Na winning the French Open in 2011.

Zhang’s achievement was probably the highlight of a tournament in Naples which experienced difficulties right from the start.

The weekend’s qualifying matches were moved to another tennis club 20 kilometres away in Pozzuoli and played behind closed doors after players complained about the hard court surface in Naples, which turned out not to be waterproof.

The court used at the previous week’s tournament in Florence was then taken down to Naples, while matches were played both there and in Pozzuoli, leading to Adrian Mannarino playing matches in both venues on Tuesday.

Zhang, who played in those troubled qualifiers to make the main draw, had to win two matches on last to last Thursday to reach the quarters, beating both Marton Fucsovics and sixth-seed Sebastian Baez in straight sets.