Zhang Zhizhen has become the first men's singles tennis player from the Chinese mainland to earn a spot in the main draw at Wimbledon in the Open era after outclassing Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo in the final qualifying rounds for the Grand Slam event on Thursday night.

The 24-year-old Shanghai-born talent, ranked 178th, failed to qualify for this year's Australian Open and French Open. Still, he succeeded on his first attempt to make a breakthrough at Wimbledon with a hard-fought 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (8/6) win over a battling Cerundolo.

As the oldest tennis tournament globally, Wimbledon is renowned for its prestige and competitiveness. Lu Yen-Hsun of Chinese Taipei beat the odds in 2010 when the unseeded sensation stormed into the quarterfinals before losing to No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic.

Zhang is also the fourth men's player from the Chinese mainland to play singles in the main draw of a Grand Slam, with the others being Wu Di at the Australian Open in 2013, 2014 and 2016, Zhang Ze at the Australian Open in 2014 and 2015, and Li Zhe at the 2019 Australian Open.

Meanwhile, world No. 5 Dominic Thiem confirmed pulling out of Wimbledon due to a right wrist injury.

The Austrian wrote on Instagram that tests found a "detachment of the posterior sheath of the ulnar side of the right wrist," an injury that will not allow him to compete on the circuit for several weeks.

"I'm going to do everything the doctors say in order to recover as quickly as possible. They've informed me that I might be out for several weeks, but I will do my best to be back on court soon," Thiem said.

"I'm really sorry for pulling out of the upcoming three tournaments I had in my calendar: Wimbledon, Hamburg and Gstaad. They are very important tournaments for me. I appreciate all the support from the fans in these difficult moments - I'm determined to come back stronger," he added.