Zhizhen Zhang, triple Z, is back.

A rather unusual season for the Chinese player, who still has around twenty wins, but almost exclusively at Challenger level. Every time he comes back on the main tour, he doesn’t perform well, strings together a few losses, then plays a Challenger before getting injured again. He’s a player who’s often injured or physically diminished, and that’s still the case now.

This time, he withdrew from the US Open without giving any particular reason, or at least I don’t have that information. I find it hard to believe it could be a preventive move for the Asian swing, because we’re still talking about the US Open, and playing this match with a paycheck on the line wouldn’t have had much impact on what comes next. I’m assuming it’s something fairly serious. I’d say that even without much match rhythm, he has often managed to find a good level again. He’s a dangerous player who plays simple tennis and doesn’t necessarily need perfect physical condition to come back. If his serve is on and his forehand is working well, then he can trouble a lot of players in such fast conditions.

Quite a few certainties on Wong’s side, who is often a bit underrated given his level of play, which I find quite stable and rather high, even though he’s not very well ranked. He’s an excellent server, maybe even better than Zhang, without being as impressive, but he’s a player who isn’t afraid to grind from the baseline. He knows how to weather the storm, wait for the error, or step up the pace. I’d say his little guilty flaw is that he tightens up and has physical dips within his matches. That was pretty obvious in recent weeks, when I saw him have massive lapses before pulling himself together. A drop in one set isn’t necessarily decisive with him. That’s an asset, and it’s also something I’m telling you for live betting. I’ve seen him a good number of times give up on a set and look like he had nothing left in the tank before rediscovering his brilliance in the final set. He’s clever, and this is a swing that really matters to him.