The second highest ranked Chinese Women Tennis player and currently ranked number 26, Wang Qiang was defeated by young player Yang Ziyi and missed the quarterfinals in the current China Tennis Tour. Men’s singles top seed Zhang Zhizhen narrowly defeated Li Jianhui 20:18 in the final set of the “Ten Ten” battle.
In women’s singles, Wang Qiang won the first set with 6:4 by sheer experience. In the second set, the two sides entered an arduous tug-of-war, and Yang Ziyi, who let go of it, tied the big score 6-4 with a sharp serve and a strong bottom line attack. In the deciding set of the “Ten Ten” battle, Yang Ziyi continued his good form and finally sealed the victory with 10:6.
After the game, Wang Qiang said: “It was the first time I played against Yang Ziyi. I don’t know her well, and opportunities are always given to those who are prepared.” She also admitted that her loss is not due to insufficient training and not adapting to the plateau clay court.
The men’s singles focus battle was launched between top seed Zhang Zhizhen and Li Jianhui. The two sides fell into a stalemate in the first set, Li Jianhui seized the opportunity and took the lead with 6:4. In the second set, Zhang Zhizhen reduced his turnovers and also pulled back a set with 6:4.
The deciding set of the “ten-grab” battle can be described as twists and turns. Zhang Zhizhen took the lead to get the match point 9:4. The desperate Li Jianhui rebounded and scored six points to grab the match point, but missed the victory due to a double serve error. After that, the two sides started chasing each other. In the end, the more experienced Zhang Zhizhen laughed to the end. He ended the game with an ACE ball and fixed the score of “Ten Ten” at 20:18.
After the game, Zhang Zhizhen said: “It is also the first time I hit 20 in the’ten grab’. I mainly won on service.”
After this round, Sun Fajing, Zhang Ze, Han Xinyun, Sun Ziyue and other male and female seeded players successfully advanced.
