In 2025, Huang Zelin achieved four major milestones in his professional career.

When it comes to Hong Kong's male tennis player Huang Zelin, many fans are familiar with him. In September 2023, during the third round of the men's singles tennis event at the Hangzhou Asian Games, Huang mounted a comeback in the deciding set tiebreak, where Wu Yibing had five match points, ultimately defeating his opponent and making a strong impression on many fans. Additionally, that year, Huang reached his first Challenger final in his career and boosted his world ranking by nearly 500 places.

Since then, Huang Zelin has made progress every year. Last season, again at the ATP 250 Hangzhou Open, he advanced from the first round after his opponent retired due to injury despite Huang leading by a large margin. It’s worth noting that this opponent was once again Chinese player Wu Yibing. In some ways, it might be fair to say Huang is something of a nemesis for Wu. Following this victory, Huang earned his first career win on the ATP Tour. So, what breakthroughs did he achieve in the 2025 season? Let this article take you through them.

In mid-March, Huang Zelin entered the Miami Masters as a wildcard. In the first round, facing German player Altmaier, who had previously reached the second week of a Grand Slam, Huang showed no signs of underestimating his opponent. Sweeping two sets, he secured his first Masters win in his career, marking his first breakthrough in the 2025 season. After this victory, Huang remained humble and battled through three sets in the second round to defeat American player Shelton, who had twice reached Grand Slam semifinals. This was Huang’s first win over a top 15 player and his second breakthrough in 2025.

After reaching these new career milestones, Huang Zelin’s performance faltered for a long period. Before August, he had not won a main draw match on the tour; even at Challenger events, he failed to reach the semifinals. Because of this, many fans feared Huang might become another “wasted talent.”

In early August, during the first round of qualifying at the Cincinnati Masters, Huang convincingly defeated Argentine player Juan Cerundolo, who had recently reached a tour final, advancing smoothly. In the final qualifying round, Huang beat Japanese player Shelton, who had previously reached the semifinals of the ATP 500 Tokyo tournament, in straight sets, successfully entering the main draw of the Cincinnati Masters.

In the first round, Huang faced French player Pericard, an ATP 500 champion, and performed exceptionally well, allowing his opponent only five games across two sets. Although Huang was heavily defeated in the second round by French player Humbert, a Masters champion, Huang still achieved his third career breakthrough of the 2025 season.

Recently, in the first round of the US Open qualifiers, Huang defeated Luxembourg player Roderich, who had recently won his first Challenger title, advancing smoothly. In the second qualifying round, facing the 16th seed Italian player Gigante, Huang came back from losing the first set to win the next two sets and advance after a tough battle. This marked the first time in his career that Huang reached the final round of Grand Slam qualifying, representing his fourth breakthrough in the 2025 season. That’s the tennis story for today; more to come tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)