Davis Cup will be played in 5 games to determine the winner
18-year-old Zhou Yi saved the match with two wins to help the Chinese team escape danger
The strong Chinese men's tennis team sent its "Five Tiger Generals" to compete in the Davis Cup Men's Tennis Team Championship World Group II playoff match between China and Slovenia. No one expected that the host country won two consecutive victories on the first day and won the match. With 1 point, he lost two games in a row the next day and was forced into a dangerous situation by his opponent. In the end, 18-year-old Zhou Yi became the team's "anchor" at the critical moment, reversing Kryznik 2-1 and helping the Chinese team enter the Davis Cup World Group II.
Accident
From aspiration to certainty, there are dangers
Looking at the lineups of the Chinese team and the Slovenian team, many Chinese fans may laugh. The Chinese team, which is ranked much higher in the world, can easily "defeat" its opponents. However, the only uncertainty is that Wu Yibing and Shang Juncheng, who are injured and in poor physical condition, are unable to play. In this way, captain Wu Di only has Zhang Zhizhen, Buyunchaoket and 18-year-old Zhou Yi in his hands, and there are still variables in the outcome of the game.
Sure enough, Zhang Zhizhen and Zhou Yi both defeated their opponents in the singles match on the first day, helping the Chinese team get the match point at home in Guangzhou.
According to the draw results, Buyunchaoket/Zhou Yi, Zhang Zhizhen and Zhou Yi will play in the three games the next day.
However, captain Wu Di finally chose to change the formation and use Zhang Zhizhen/Buyunchaoket to play in the men's doubles match. If they win, they can seal the victory in advance.
But contrary to expectations, Zhang Zhizhen, who reached the top four of the men's doubles at this year's Australian Open, did not play the same state as in the Grand Slam. He and Buyunchokte lost to Dominco/Kriznik 3-6, 4-6. . In this way, the Chinese team suffered setbacks in hitting the match point and could only rely on the fourth game to seal the victory.
In fact, in the pre-match predictions, a senior coach did not believe that Zhang Zhizhen's combination was sure to win. The reason was that the singles ranking did not prove the strength of the doubles, and if the opponents cooperated tacitly, the variables of the game would greatly increase.
Sure enough, Zhang Zhizhen's team lost this inevitable game.
In the fourth game, Zhang Zhizhen once again took the field, but lost to Dominco 3-6 and 4-6 again. He lost both games that day, causing the Chinese team to fall into a passive situation.
In the fifth game, 18-year-old Zhou Yi played again. He lost 5-7 in the first set. The Chinese team's winning situation took a turn for the worse and they were about to be overturned by their opponents. At this time, Zhou Yi played the role of "Mr. Key", beating Kriznik 6-1 and 6-3 like a miracle, thus helping the Chinese team win 3-2.
pleased
Zhou Yicheng wins "Mr. Key"
In the past two years, Zhou Yi has made a name for himself by competing in the Grand Slam youth group. Last year at the Australian Open, he broke into the top four of the youth men's singles group, instantly becoming famous and becoming a young genius of the same age as Shang Juncheng.
However, judging from the appearance of the golf course, Zhou Yi is more like a high school golfer and lacks the style of a professional player like Shang Jincheng.
Whether it is serving, baseline or net, Zhou Yi's stability and lethality have a lot of room for improvement. However, in this Davis Cup, he was pushed to the front and entrusted with important tasks, which shows the determination of the Chinese team to cultivate new players. and confidence.
After defeating Dominco 2-1 on the first day, Zhou Yi continued to play the role of "Mr. Key" on the second day. Unexpectedly, he lost a set 5-7 at the last minute and won 6-1. , reversed Kryznik 6-3 and helped the Chinese team enter the Davis Cup World Group II.
In this Davis Cup, the young player Zhou Yi scored two points and withstood the pressure at the last moment to win. He is undoubtedly the biggest contributor and shows the style of the new generation of Chinese men's tennis. Zhou Yi said after the game that he was under tremendous pressure this time and he cherished the opportunity to play for his country and was finally able to win for the Chinese team. He has participated in many CTA events in Guangzhou Huangpu, which left him with deep feelings for Guangzhou Huangpu. This is a home stadium that makes him feel very familiar. There are many spectators at the scene, and everyone’s cheers and cheers make him feel very excited. .
After the game, the Chinese team members formed a circle and threw Zhou Yi high into the air. Indeed, in times of crisis, the 18-year-old boy held up the banner of China's men's tennis.
Wu Di, captain of the Chinese team, said that this was his first Davis Cup appearance as captain and he was pleased to see the Chinese men's tennis team unite in the face of difficulties and successfully complete the task. In addition, he also expressed his love for Guangzhou Huangpu: "Guangzhou Huangpu is my blessed place. The last championship in my athlete career was won here, so I am very familiar with and love this city. There’s a lot of support felt here too.”
This was the first time in five years that the Chinese team played the Davis Cup at home in Guangzhou. This time they did not repeat the same mistakes and defeated the Slovenia team 3-2 and successfully advanced to the World Group II. In September this year, the Chinese team will participate in the World Group II main game. If it can successfully break through, it will participate in the World Group I play-offs in February next year, followed by the World Group I main game in September. As Zhang Zhizhen said, "If we want to raise the national team in the Davis Cup (group), we must at least enter the world group. We now have a good team with very strong players. Wu Yibing, Shang Jun Cheng, Xiao Bu, Zhou Yi and I can play in odd and even situations, and we can arrange our troops in various ways. So we have a very good opportunity to compete in the Davis Cup World Group."
At the same time, Zhang Zhizhen also revealed his new career goals. He has now entered the TOP50 and hopes to reach the TOP30 next.
Guangzhou Daily omni-media reporter Sun Jiahui