US Open: Zhang Zhizhen stuns Casper Ruud to reach third round in historic upset as Chinese stars keep up remarkable runs
- Zhang becomes first Chinese man to beat a top-five player after greatest win of his career against last year’s runner-up
- China’s Wang Xinyu also moves on in the women’s singles draw with Zhu Lin, as Wang Yafan also looks to reach third round in New York
Zhang Zhizhen made history after sending last year’s finalist Casper Ruud crashing out of the US Open on Wednesday, becoming the first man from China to beat a top-five player, with some of his compatriots keeping up their own remarkable runs in New York.
The 26-year-old from Shanghai, who is ranked No 67 in the world, put in the greatest performance of his career to win 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2 after three hours and 19 minutes.
“Last year at the US Open, I can say it was a bad memory. But this year is a little bit different,” said Zhang, who failed to take seven match points in his 2022 first-round match before losing to Tim van Rijthoven in five sets.
Tempers had flared on the Grandstand court after Ruud raced through the fourth set to level the match, with Zhang taking a lengthy toilet break and changing clothes. The Norwegian fifth seed felt it was a bid by his opponent to disrupt his momentum.
“Why don’t you do anything?” Ruud yelled to the umpire. “You follow the rules clearly sometimes, then other times you don’t give a s***. Why don’t you do anything?”
Ruud was immediately broken in the first game of the fifth set and again complained to the chair umpire, accusing him of failing to enforce time limits.
