HANGZHOU, China (Reuters) – Chinese tennis trailblazer Zhang Zhizhen claimed the nation’s first men’s singles gold medal at the Asian Games in nearly 30 years on Saturday, riding a wave of crowd support to beat Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki 6-4 7-6(7) in Hangzhou.
Zhang, the first Chinese man to break into the top 100 in the world rankings, roared back from 4-1 down in the first set and wrapped up the match after Japanese number two Watanuki blew a set point in the tiebreaker with a double-fault.
The match sealed when Watanuki fired wide, Zhang tossed his racket away in celebration and walked around the court draped in the red flag of China as home fans erupted.
It was China’s first gold medal in the men’s event since Pan Bing won back-to-back titles in 1990-94.
“It’s been a very, very tough week, not just this match, but very tough for the whole week actually, from the first match onwards,” said Zhang.
“But I’m super happy that from the beginning of the first match, step by step, I’ve played better and better tennis.”
China’s Zheng Qinwen won the women’s singles title on Friday, overpowering compatriot Zhu Lin 6-2 6-4.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Michael Perry)
