Home favourite Zhang advances in Hangzhou, Nishioka wins

China’s No. 1 Zhang Zhizhen is up and running on home soil at the Hangzhou Open. The sixth seed moved past Kazakhstan qualifier Denis Yevseyev 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the second round at the ATP 250.

The 27-year-old was competing on home soil for the first time since he advanced to the fourth round at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Shanghai last October.

In a hard-fought first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting between the two, Zhang overcame an erratic display, in which he committed 42 unforced errors en route to advancing after two hours and four minutes. The No. 48 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will meet Mattia Bellucci in the second round.

satisfying win 😊

On home soil Zhang defeats Yevseyev 6-2 1-6 6-4 to move into R2 at #HangzhouOpen @HangzhouOpen pic.twitter.com/xy9pVoDSnK

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 19, 2024

Yoshihito Nishioka improved his perfect record against Top 100 opponents since the start of 2023 to 15-0 on Thursday at the Hangzhou Open, where the Japanese lefty overcame Germany’s Maximilian Marterer 6-4, 6-2.

The eighth seed was in control throughout the 77-minute clash, not facing a break point to earn victory in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

The No. 54 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, who reached the title match in Zhuhai last year, will next meet Croatian wild card and 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic in the second round.

Chinese wild card Bu Yunchaokete earned his first ATP Tour win of the season, moving past Frenchman Hugo Gaston 7-5, 6-3. Bu won two ATP Challenger Tour titles in 2024 and qualified for the US Open last month, losing to Casper Ruud in the first round.

The 22-year-old faces a tough test in the second round, meeting second seed Karen Khachanov.

#NextGenATP star Coleman Wong advanced after Wu Yibing was forced to retire after the first set. Wu, who became the first Chinese man to win an ATP Tour title last year in Dallas, has struggled with injury issues in the past year and was forced to stop after losing the first set 3-6.

Wong, who is the first man from Hong Kong to win an ATP Tour match since 1972, is up one spot to ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. The 20-year-old is aiming to make his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF. He faces former Next Gen champ Brandon Nakashima in round two.

In other action at the ATP 250 hard-court event, Bellucci defeated Aslan Karatsev 6-4, 6-0, while Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena overcame Corentin Moutet 7-6(6), 6-1 despite a moment of magic from the Frenchman. Japan’s Yasutaka Uchiyama defeated Australian James McCabe 6-4, 6-4 and will take on top seed Holger Rune in the second round.

Australian Rinky Hijikata moved past Damir Dzumhur 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-2. Hijikata rallied from 2-5 down in the second set to eventually turn the match around after two hours and 31 minutes. He plays seventh seed Fabian Marozsan in the second round. Alexander Shevchenko downed Argentine qualifier Marco Trungelliti 6-1, 6-1 to reach round two.