For the first time in the Open Era of tennis, three players from the Chinese mainland, Zhang Zhizhen, Wu Yibing and Shang Juncheng will compete in French Open men's singles matches. It will be the second straight edition of the Grand Slam tournament to have three Chinese players appear in the men's singles event after the Australian Open in January.

When asked if this is the best time for China's male tennis players, Zhang told Xinhua News Agency that there is no such thing as the "best time," because it will only get better and better.

"This time we have three players in the French Open, maybe we will have four at Wimbledon or the following tournaments," Zhang said. "I hope more and more Chinese players can compete in the Grand Slam matches in the future. I also hope that I can maintain the world ranking that will enable me to qualify automatically for these tournaments."

Having advanced to the men's singles quarterfinals at the Mutua Madrid Open, Zhang achieved the best record for male players from the Chinese mainland at the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour Masters 1000 tournaments. He has played in all of three Grand Slams – Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open – before, but lost every time in the first round after five sets.

"I have already lost three five-set matches in the previous tournaments. So I want to do better this time, or, how bad can it be? Maybe I go through five sets to lose again," Zhang said. "I have improved my performance after competing with the world's top players. It's both clay court on which we are playing, but Madrid is on a plateau, so I may not serve in Paris as well as I did in Madrid. But serves are generally fast here, so I think I can perform well here."

Zhang will play Dusan Lajovic of Serbia in the first round at Roland Garros. Lajovic won the men's singles title at the Srpska Open in April and beat his compatriot, 22-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

"I wouldn't call it a bad draw result as long as I don't face a top seeded player in the first round," Zhang told Xinhua. "If you want to win, you have to work hard to perform better and get ready for any opponent. You can't bet on luck."