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wang pingqin, reporter of chao news client

at the paris olympics, olympic champion zheng qinwen's high emotional intelligence speech in response to reporters' questions once became a hot topic on the internet. at the 2024 hangzhou open, we experienced zhang zhizhen's "eloquence" up close.

as the current top player in chinese men's tennis, zhang zhizhen is 1.93 meters tall and looks quite oppressive when standing next to others, but he speaks politely and modestly. whether facing the media or fans, zhang zhizhen's answers show his iq and eq, and he is confident and humorous.

zhang zhizhen photo courtesy of visual china

“thank you for not going to the concert next door”

zhang zhizhen steadily outputs "comedian" speeches

at the pre-match press conference of the hangzhou open, zhang zhizhen came to the press conference room and the first thing he did after sitting down was to tie up his hair. he was used to the serious atmosphere of press conferences, but he felt relaxed. when the host was a little nervous, zhang zhizhen took the initiative to make jokes to liven up the atmosphere.

on the evening of september 21, the hangzhou olympic sports center was bustling with activity. two concerts were held simultaneously in the "big lotus" and the olympic sports center gymnasium, while the hangzhou tennis open in the "small lotus" was in full swing.

zhang zhizhen made his final appearance on the evening of september 21, defeating italian player bellucci in just three games and successfully advancing to the men's singles quarterfinals of this hangzhou open. after the game, zhang zhizhen wrote the word "happy" on the camera lens and said to the fans at the scene: "thank you very much for watching my game here instead of going to the concert next door." the whole audience cheered.

the reporter met several male fans who had come together at the scene, holding a banner with zhang zhizhen's q version of the character and the english words "amazzzing". "zzz" is zhang zhizhen's nickname. he once said, "for people who can't speak chinese, this pronunciation is much simpler and sounds cool. besides, i really like to sleep, so it's very suitable." several fans also talked about this with relish: "we love zhang's relaxation. he can often fall asleep just by lying down."

during the paris olympics, zhang zhizhen's relaxed and humorous sense was talked about. the story of "temporary calling" at the olympic games made many people laugh, and the jokes he said casually during interviews made many netizens call him the "comedian" of the olympics.

zhang zhizhen did not hesitate to share his interesting stories and mental journey during the competition through light-hearted teasing and humorous language, making the formal occasion that could have been boring become lively and interesting, and allowing everyone to see a different zhang zhizhen from the one on the court.

growing up in a “free-range” environment

zhang zhizhen is grateful to his parents for letting him go since he was young

this sense of relaxation in zhang zhizhen may be related to his growing environment.

zhang zhizhen's father zhang weihua is a professional football player, and his mother is a shooting athlete. although they were born into a sports family, his parents adopted a "free-range" approach to training zhang zhizhen.

zhang zhizhen's mother, qin wei, was admitted to university through sports recruitment. after completing her university education, she found an ideal job smoothly and steadily and worked until retirement. but as for zhang zhizhen, qin wei said that she never instilled in her child the idea that he must win first place. "i thought it would be good for my child to have the specialty of tennis in the future. i never thought about what kind of competition results he could achieve."

"the biggest help they gave me was that they didn't pay too much attention to me. when i left home for the first time to participate in the national youth competition, i was alone. i went with the parents of other teammates." zhang zhizhen also talked about his parents' way of training, and his joke caused laughter at the scene.

when participating in the asian games in hangzhou last year, zhang zhizhen revealed that he did not like his parents to watch the game from the sidelines, because he was somewhat worried. "i am very grateful to my parents for letting me let go and playing alone. it is not easy for them to understand me."

to train a child to pursue a career in tennis requires a family to put in countless efforts and a considerable amount of money. it is even more valuable for parents to let go of a young child and allow him to grow up on his own.

zhang zhizhen takes a photo with fans. photo courtesy of visual china

“this is our home ground”

zhang zhizhen looks forward to writing good articles

the title of "number one" is not only reflected in technology and ranking.

tennis is a "single-soldier" sport. years of free growth have given zhang zhizhen excellent psychological quality and courage on the court, allowing him to remain calm even when facing strong opponents. in addition to winning or losing on the court, zhang zhizhen has high iq and eq and is full of personal charm.

zhang zhizhen, who won the gold medal in last year's asian games, is very popular in hangzhou. during breaks, whenever someone shouts out zhang zhizhen's name, the whole audience will cheer.

it is almost standard for professional tennis players to speak fluent english. back in china, in order to cater to the audience, zhang zhizhen sometimes acts as his own translator and explains the questions again in chinese after answering them in english during the post-match interviews.

as the start of the chinese season, the atp hangzhou and chengdu stations saw chinese players perform well in both tournaments. zhejiang player buyun chaoket and china's top player zhang zhizhen advanced to the semi-finals in hangzhou, and young player shang juncheng also successfully advanced to the semi-finals in chengdu.

the chinese season has begun, and people are looking forward to how chinese players will perform at home. zhang zhizhen said in an interview that this year's chinese season can do something small: "last year, i was playing in the asian games, so it was a pity that i missed the first two weeks of the game. this year, everyone's level has improved, which is very good news. this is our home court, and we can do something a little bit."

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