Zhang Zhizhen (L) of China and Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic celebrate after defeating Robin Haase and Botic Van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands 7-5 and 6-2 in the French Open men's doubles second-round match at Roland Garros in Paris, France, June 3, 2024. /CFP
Zhang Zhizhen of China and Czech Tomas Machac defeated the Dutch pair of Robin Haase and Botic Van de Zandschulp 7-5, 6-2 in the second round of the French Open men's doubles on Monday.
The victory enabled Zhang to advance to the men's doubles Round of 16 for the first time in his career and to his second appearance at this stage of the men's doubles competitions in a Grand Slam tournament. He and Machac went all the way to the men's doubles semifinals at the Australian Open in January.
Before the French Open began, Zhang said that his priority was competing in the men's singles event. However, after he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the third-round match on May 31, he focused all of his attention on the men's doubles matches.
Zhang Zhizhen (L) of China and Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic compete in the French Open men's doubles second-round match against Robin Haase and Botic Van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands at Roland Garros in Paris, France, June 3, 2024. /CFP
Zhang and Machac were No. 59 and No. 57 respectively on the ATP's men's doubles world rankings before the French Open. They beat the tournament's 12th-seeded pair, Andreas Mies of Germany and Neal Skupski of Britain, in the first round.
Zhang and Machac will face the No. 8 seeds, Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina, in the Round of 16 match.