3 Chinese males play at French Open; nation’s 1st male entrants in Paris since 1937

For the first time since 1937, a Chinese man competed within the major draw of the French Open — and, actually, a whole of three did, all participating in opening-round matches on Monday.

The first of the groundbreaking group in movement on the crimson clay of the Grand Slam occasion at Roland Garros was Shang Juncheng, who made it into the sector by means of qualifying and confronted Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru on Court 5.

With some Chinese flags waving throughout the stands and chants of assist from spectators, Shang grabbed a two-set lead on the outset. But it was Varillas who emerged with a 4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 comeback victory after virtually 3 1/2 hours.

The subsequent flip went to Wu Yibing, who took on No. 19 seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain over on Court 12. Bautista Agut picked up the win by the comparatively easy score of 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-1.

Later throughout the day, once more on Court 5, Zhang Zhizhen gave China its first man throughout the second spherical on the French Open since Kho Sin-Kie acquired to the third spherical 77 years previously. Zhang superior when his opponent, Dusan Lajovic of Serbia, stopped participating in as a consequence of a stomach virus whereas trailing 6-1, 4-1.

“That’s quite special,” acknowledged Zhang, a 26-year-old from Shanghai who’s ranked 71st.

“I mean, we have so many (people) waiting for us to get the first win,” Zhang acknowledged. “Just step (by) step, and then we can get a lot of wins.”

He was the first of the trio who carried out Monday to make a Grand Slam breakthrough, exhibiting at Wimbledon two years previously. In 2022, he and Wu every participated throughout the U.S. Open, with Wu attending to the third spherical there. In January, Zhang, Wu and Shang all have been throughout the self-discipline on the Australian Open; Shang reached the second spherical.

Another large second obtained right here in February, when Wu turned the first Chinese participant to win an ATP Tour title, beating John Isner throughout the final of the Dallas Open.

Zhang acknowledged he hopes he and his countrymen can someday receive the type of success Chinese ladies have collected in tennis.

That consists of International Tennis Hall of Fame member Li Na, who gained titles on the French Open in 2011 and the Australian Open in 2014. Peng Shuai gained two Grand Slam trophies in doubles and reached No. 1 in these WTA rankings; she moreover made it to the U.S. Open semifinals in singles. Peng dropped out of public view after making sexual assault accusations in the direction of a high-ranking Chinese authorities official in 2021. The WTA launched rapidly after that it may droop all of its tournaments in China, a boycott that was lifted closing month.