China's Zhang Zhizhen lost to 13th seed Rune 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 4-6 in the first round of the 2025 Australian Open Men's Singles.

Zhang Zhizhen said after the game that although he regretted the loss, he had gone all out: "I'm so tired! I've done my best! Actually, I felt pretty good overall, and it was the first time I had been down 2-1 to get to the deciding set, but the fifth set was a bit of a stretch today. For me, one of the better things I've done this year is that I've tried every set, and the ones I made until the last minute today are good performances, but it's a challenge for my own physical strength. He [Rune's] baseline was really fast-paced, he was very resolute in stealing my second serve, and despite the mistakes, he kept me under a lot of pressure. ”

Looking back on the singles performance of the Australian season, Zhang Zhizhen won 1 win and 4 losses, including three defeats against Zverev, Fritz, Rune and other TOP15 players, he said: "I can't say that I can't play well in these five games, in fact, I think it's okay. I was very solid in the game that won against Monteiro, and I lost a few games...... Maybe it's a pity today, there is indeed a gap between the two of us, but I think I can still be competitive when I have enough energy. I feel that being able to have such high-quality confrontations all the time is a very good improvement or help for me. As long as you keep holding on to them and find a way to get closer and closer to them in every game, you will definitely be able to improve in the future, but of course it takes patience. ”

Zhang Zhizhen has previously said that his goal for the 2025 season is to break the top 30 mark, and although the results of the Australian season are not satisfactory, he is not worried about this: "I didn't score many points in January...... Of course, it's still early, and we won't have much to worry about at this stage. I believe that if we can maintain this state all the time, we will do a good job in the process, and the results will come. In the last few losses, the opponent's ranking and performance are very good, and these games have done what they should do. Now everything is running in and going in a good direction. So I don't dare to say that I expect too much, but at least I have a little hope. Of course, I still have to improve my fitness, and now I can feel my weaknesses being targeted when I play, so I have to deal with this well. ”

Looking ahead to the men's doubles journey ahead of his Australian Open journey, Zhang Zhizhen said: "It's up to him now, we are all singles players, of course, mainly in singles. I'm definitely going to give it my all, it's just a matter of how well he plays in the singles. As always, we will deal with it with a relaxed mind. ”

(Editor/Faye Wong)