Zhang Zhizhen made history at the 2024 Australian Open on the 23rd, becoming the first mainland Chinese player to be shortlisted for the semi-finals of the Grand Slam men’s doubles in the Open era. In the men’s singles competition, Djokovic has also reached the semifinals and will compete with Italian youngster Sinner.
In the men’s doubles match, Zhang Zhizhen partnered with Czech player Makhach and quickly defeated Bejar/Pavlasek 6:3, 6:1 in just one hour. Their opponents in the semi-finals will be between the No. 6 seeds Gonzalez/Morteni and the No. 2 seeds Bopanna/Eboden.
In the men’s singles competition, top seed Djokovic defeated No. 12 seed Fritz 7:6 (3), 4:6, 6:2 and 6:3. Djokovic fell into a tug-of-war in the first set, and was broken again in the first game of the second set, but Fritz equalized the total score. But in the next two sets, the “ten-time champion”‘s serving touch recovered and he successfully advanced to the semifinals.
On the other hand, No. 4 seed Sinner narrowly defeated No. 5 seed Rublev 6:4, 7:6 (5) and 6:3. Rublev stopped in the Grand Slam quarter-finals for the tenth time in his career.
In women’s singles, defending champion Sabalenka defeated former French Open champion Krejcikova 6:2, 6:3, while US Open champion Gauff eliminated Ukrainian player Kostyuk to advance to the semi-finals after more than three hours of hard battle.