Who will stay in the second week and who can go the furthest?, 11 Chinese players compete in Wimbledon, breaking the record
The 2024 Wimbledon Tennis Championships will be held at the All England Club in London from July 1 to 14, Beijing time. In this year's Wimbledon main draw, there are 11 Chinese men's and women's singles players, setting a historical record for Chinese tennis players in Grand Slam tournaments.
Among the 11 players, who can stay in the second week, who can go further, and can the numerical advantage be transformed into outstanding results? The 2024 Grass Court Grand Slam is worth looking forward to.
In this year's Wimbledon, Zhang Zhizhen was seeded 32nd in the men's singles draw, becoming the first mainland male player to be seeded in a Grand Slam. In the ATP 500 Halle before Wimbledon, Zhang Zhizhen performed well in this grass tournament, defeating Medvedev, Eubanks and other top players to enter the semifinals. Although he was blocked by world No. 1 Sinner in the semifinals, he has created his best record in the grass tour.
With his amazing performance, Zhang Zhizhen's world ranking rose to a career-high 33rd place, and he also successfully obtained the status of Wimbledon seed. In the four Grand Slams, Zhang Zhizhen has achieved the achievement of winning the main draws of the Australian Open, French Open and US Open, and has even reached the third round of the French Open and US Open. Only at Wimbledon, Zhang Zhizhen has not won the main draw.
Zhang Zhizhen, who is becoming more and more mature and powerful on the court, is looking forward to completing the puzzle of Wimbledon victory. "I am still looking forward to this year's Wimbledon. My previous experience has given me a better understanding of grass, and I hope to make some breakthroughs."
At the same time, another Chinese male tennis player Shang Juncheng will also compete. The 19-year-old young player performed brilliantly in the recent ATP250 Eastbourne Station. In his first grass tour, he defeated strong opponents and entered the quarterfinals.
According to the Wimbledon men's singles draw, the two Chinese players were placed in the same quarter-finals. Zhang Zhizhen will face French qualifier Jeanville in the first round, and Shang Juncheng will also be drawn as a qualifier in the first round and will face Chilean player Garin. It is worth mentioning that if Zhang Zhizhen can get through the first two rounds, he may face Medvedev, the No. 5 seed, again in the third round. If Shang Juncheng can get through the first round, he may face Dimitrov, the No. 10 seed, in the second round.
The draw result of the tournament's No. 8 seed Zheng Qinwen is very gratifying: there are almost no strong opponents before the quarter-finals, and it is expected that Zheng Qinwen will advance directly to the top 8, which can be described as a "good draw". Zheng Qinwen will face the Chinese player Sun Lulu, who is ranked 123rd in the world, in the first round. Zheng Qinwen will win the match without any suspense. In the second round, it will be the winner between Van Uyvancks and qualifier Taro Dubtseva. The potential opponents in the third round are Pavlyuchenkova or Zhu Lin, and in the fourth round, he may meet Sakkari or Raducanu. As long as Zheng Qinwen performs normally, there will be no suspense in advancing to the quarter-finals.
However, the strength of the players who can advance to the Wimbledon main draw should not be underestimated. Zheng Qinwen lost to a qualifying player in the just-concluded Berlin station. After all, there are no weak players in such a big competition.
If Zheng Qinwen advances successfully, she will face Sabalenka, her opponent in this year's Australian Open final, again. She was easily defeated by her opponent in the last Australian Open final. Can she avenge her defeat this time?
As for other women's singles players, Zhang Shuai and Wang Qiang had bad luck in the first round, facing Kasatkina and Navarro, and it was very difficult for them to advance. Wang Xiyu also faced strong opponents. Wang Xinyu, Yuan Yue, Wang Yafan, Bai Zhuoxuan, and Zhu Lin all had good luck in the draw and are expected to advance together.
Djokovic withdrew from the French Open earlier this month due to a torn meniscus in his right knee, but he miraculously appeared on the Wimbledon entry list and was seeded No. 2, once again demonstrating his amazing recovery ability, which amazed people.
At the pre-match press conference, Djokovic expressed a strong desire to participate in the Wimbledon competition, especially shouting that he still wanted to win the championship rather than just play a few rounds, and believed that he still maintained a high level of competitive ability.
Djokovic talked about why he returned to the court just three weeks after completing knee surgery: "My wife asked me this question, why I took such a big risk to participate in Wimbledon. To be honest, I don't know. For me, at the age of 37, it is normal to want to reduce risks and prepare for the Olympics."
“This is the first time in my life that I’ve had a particular knee injury and I wanted to see how quickly I can recover and if I’m really capable of playing five sets on grass against the best players in the world. I said a few days ago that I’m not here to play a few rounds and prove to myself and others that I can really play one or two matches, I really want to win again. So the last three days have given me enough optimism and positive signs that I can really get into the game at the highest level in the coming weeks, and hopefully that’s the case.”
