On December 30th, Beijing time, in the Perth division E group of the United Cup group stage, China faced Germany. Due to the earlier announcement of Zheng Qinwen's withdrawal from the competition, China was at a disadvantage in terms of lineup comparison. In the first men's singles match, Zhang Zhizhen challenged Zverev. Although Zhang is a top 50 player in the world and the leader of Chinese men's tennis, his opponent Zverev is a world-class player, an Olympic gold medalist in men's singles, a two-time Grand Slam runner-up, and a two-time year-end finals champion, currently ranked second in the world! Surprisingly, Zhang Zhizhen created a surprise in the first set by not allowing his opponent to get a single break point, breaking twice himself, and winning the first set with a score of 6-2! Zverev found his form in the second set, winning the set 6-0. In the decisive set, Zverev won again with a score of 6-2. Ultimately, Zhang Zhizhen lost after initially winning, narrowly missing a major upset, with a final score of 1-2 against Zverev.
In the past, the highest-ranked player Zhang Zhizhen has defeated is Ruud and Medvedev: In the 2023 US Open, Zhang Zhizhen fought hard for five sets, turning the tables 3-2 against Ruud, who was then ranked fifth in the world; in the 2024 Halle grass court tournament, Zhang Zhizhen played three full sets, defeating Medvedev 2-1, with Medvedev also ranked fifth at the time.
That means Zhang Zhizhen has beaten top-five players twice. In this match, Zhang Zhizhen faced Zverev, who is at the top of the men's singles pyramid, having never tasted victory against a top-two player in his career so far. Undoubtedly, for Zhang Zhizhen, this United Cup men's singles match representing the country against ATP world No. 2 Zverev is one of the biggest challenges of his career. In their previous encounter, Zhang Zhizhen and Zverev only met once, with Zverev sealing a straight-set victory over Zhang Zhizhen in the 2024 Hamburg Open.
This time around, Zhang Zhizhen represented Team China, while Zverev represented Team Germany. Both teams had previously won three consecutive matches 3-0 against Brazil, making this match a crucial battle for the top spot in the group and direct qualification to the quarterfinals.
In the first set, Zhang Zhizhen quickly entered the game, breaking Zverev's serve right away. He then achieved a second break, breaking Zverev's serve twice, while successfully holding all of his own service games without giving Zverev a single break point. With the advantage of two breaks, Zhang Zhizhen won the first set 6-2, taking the lead in the first men's singles match of the second round of the United Cup with a set score of 1-0 against Zverev.
In the second set, Zverev made a strong comeback, holding his serve first and immediately breaking Zhang Zhizhen's serve in the second game, achieving a 2-0 lead with both holds and breaks. In the third game, Zhang Zhizhen forced a break point, but due to problems with the on-site electronic line judge system, the match between Zhang Zhizhen and Zverev was temporarily suspended. After resuming the match, Zverev saved the break point and completed the third game, which lasted 20 minutes, holding serve to lead 3-0. In the fourth game, Zhang Zhizhen's serve was broken again, with Zverev breaking serve to lead 4-0. In the fifth game, Zverev held serve smoothly, bringing the score to 5-0. In the sixth game, Zverev continued his strong performance, attacking Zhang Zhizhen's serve again, getting two set points at 40-15. Although Zhang Zhizhen saved two set points in a row, Zverev ultimately converted the third set point with a break, winning the set 6-0 to level the match.
In the decisive set, Zhang Zhizhen's form improved, while Zverev showed strength in serving, with both players holding serve. Zverev led 3-2 with the first serve. In the sixth game, Zverev forced two break points at 40-15, with Zhang Zhizhen saving one break point. However, he then hit long from the baseline, allowing Zverev to complete the most critical break of the match, celebrating passionately with a roar! Following that, Zverev held the seventh game and broke serve again in Zhang Zhizhen's service game, eventually winning the decisive set 6-2.
Throughout the match, Zverev lost the first set 2-6, then made a strong comeback in the second set with a 6-0 win, and finally won the decisive set 6-2. The world No. 2 roared back to overturn the match, winning 2-1 against Zhang Zhizhen, maintaining his undefeated record in men's singles at this United Cup while representing Team Germany!