Mary Grace Grabill
Despite rain cancelling much of Wednesday’s action, Chinese star Zhang Zhizhen rallied from a set down to advance to the second round of the Arizona Tennis Classic, where he will next clash against fourth seed Alexander Bublik.
The star-studded action got underway four hours after initially scheduled, but the World No. 93 Zhang prevailed against lucky loser Rinky Hijikata 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 before heavy rain again halted play at the Phoenix Challenger.
Only two other matches were completed in Wednesday’s opening-round action. Third seed Richard Gasquet downed American qualifier Emilio Nava 7-6(5), 6-3 and Mikael Ymer defeated Radu Albot 6-1, 7-5.
When rain cancelled play at around 7:30 p.m., Gael Monfils and Alexander Shevchenko were locked in a three-set battle. Shevchenko, 22, advanced through qualifying and was leading the French wild card 6-4, 6-7(2), 2-0 when the match was suspended.
Boasting a strong field at the all-new Challenger 175 category, the Arizona Tennis Classic will feature top seed Matteo Berrettini against Ilya Ivashka on Thursday.
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Title memories are boosting top seed Matteo Berrettini ahead of building momentum for @MiamiOpen #ATPChallenger | @aztennisclassic pic.twitter.com/eD3PWAZqVx
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