Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA
Zhizhen Zhang vs Yunchaokete Bu: ATP Hangzhou – Semifinal
Zhizhen Zhang will take on Yunchaokete Bu in the semifinal of the ATP Hangzhou.
Zhizhen Zhang Profile
Zhizhen Zhang is currently 43rd in the ATP rankings and his career high was No. 31 in the world. The Chinese is 26-23 for the season and 10-9 on hard surface.
Zhang is coming off a 6-3, 6-3 win over Roberto Carballes Baena in the quarterfinal. Earlier in the tournament, he defeated Mattia Bellucci and Denis Yevseyev.
Zhang’s best result his season was the semifinal in Halle where he lost to Jannik Sinner.
This is his first appearance in Hangzhou.
Yunchaokete Bu Profile
Yunchaokete Bu is having the highest ranking of his career being No. 96 in the world. The 22-year-old is 43-19 for the season and 37-11 on hard surface.
Bu is coming off a 6-4, 6-2 quarterfinal win over Mikhael Kukushkin. Previously, he defeated Karen Khachanov and Hugo Gaston.
Bu won the challengers in Granby and Wuxi earlier this year.
This is his first appearance in Hangzhou.
Head-to-Head 1-1
- Kokkinakis vs Tsitsipas 7-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 (2024 US Open, first round)
- Tsitsipas vs Kokkinakis 6-7, 6-4, 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 (2021 Australian Open, second round)
Prediction and Conclusion
This will be the first-ever all-Chinese ATP semifinal. Zhizhen Zhang is the highest-ranked player ever coming from this country, while Yunchaokete Bu is one of the rising stars in the world of tennis. They both prefer to play on this surface, and this match can be a turning point of their careers. However, Zheng is way more experienced and has been playing on this level for a while now. The younger Bu has a solid serve that will give him a chance in this one. Therefore, we go with over 22.5 games in total for this match.
