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The world number 178 will be the first Chinese
male to play in the Wimbledon main draw in the professional era,
having survived the qualifying event at Roehampton this week.
The 24-year-old, who booked his spot by defeating Argentine
Francisco Cerundolo in four sets on Thursday, will be only the
fourth Chinese man to play singles in the main draw of a Grand
Slam since the Open era began in 1968.
No Chinese man has played in the singles since 1959.
Wu Di (2013, 2014, 2016), Zhang Ze (2014, 2015) and Li Zhe
(2019) have all played at the Australian Open.
It has been something of a mystery why Chinese men have failed
to emulate the country's women, who have provided many top
players including Li Na who won the French and Australian Open
titles before retiring in 2014.
Zhang Zhizhen is currently the only Chinese male player in the
top 250 in the ATP rankings.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman and Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru;
Editing by Peter Rutherford and Toby Davis)
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