Zhang Zhizhen Becomes First Chinese Man to Play at Wimbledon in Open Era
Voice of America
LONDON - Zhang Zhizhen qualified for Wimbledon on Thursday to become the first Chinese man in the Open era to play in the Grand Slam tournament.
The 24-year-old defeated Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6) in the final round of qualifying to make the main draw. Ranked 178th in the world, Shanghai native Zhang is the only Chinese man in the world top 250. He is also only the fourth Chinese man to play singles in the main draw of a Grand Slam since 1968, after Wu Di at the Australian Open in 2013, 2014 and 2016; Zhang Ze at the Australian Open in 2014 and 2015, and Li Zhe at the 2019 Australian Open.Mukhtar Babayev, COP29 President, center, arrives to a news conference next to Yalchin Rafiyev, left, Azerbaijan's COP29 lead negotiator, during the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 18, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Simon Stiell, United Nations climate chief, speaks ahead of a plenary session at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 18, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. People adjust a banner outside the venue for the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 18, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. FILE - Activist Teresa Anderson leads a demonstration calling for climate finance during the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 14, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
'Seed guardians' (not pictured) display corns and potatoes as well as seeds of tomatoes, little yellow pears and artichoke, as they meet to exchange forgotten vegetables varieties, in Rancagua, Chile, Oct. 11, 2024. Mapuche native cook and farmer Ana Yanez Antillanca, known as a 'Seed guardian', shows 'egg pumpkin' seeds as she meets with comrades to exchange forgotten vegetables varieties, in Rancagua, Chile, Oct. 11, 2024.
A Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials researcher controls a wheelchair with stiffness-variable "morphing" wheels in Daejeon, South Korea, Nov. 5, 2024. The "morphing" wheel can roll over obstacles up to 1.3 times the height of its radius. Inspired by the surface tension of water droplets, it goes from solid to fluid when it encounters impediments.
FILE - Part of the temples of Baalbek, a UNESCO world heritage site in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, illuminated in blue light, Oct. 24, 2015. FILE - This picture shows closed shops on an empty street in the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek on Oct. 19, 2024. FILE - People walk near the Roman ruins of Baalbek, Lebanon, Jan. 5, 2024. FILE - A man sits amidst the rubble at a site damaged in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on the town of Al-Ain in the Baalbek region, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Lebanon, Nov. 6, 2024.
Dr. Jaafar al Jotheri, shown here Nov. 10, 2024, holds satellite images and explores the site of the Battle of al-Qadisiyah, which was fought in Mesopotamia -- present-day Iraq -- in the 630s AD. A desert area with scattered plots of agricultural land with features that closely matched the description of the al-Qadisiyah battle site described in historic texts, Nov. 10, 2024.