Daniil Medvedev suffers shock three-set defeat to Zhizhen Zhang on the grass in Halle as Wimbledon preparations take hit

Daniil Medvedev crashed out of Halle in the second round, losing to world No. 42 Zhizhen Zhang in three sets. After a comfortable victory in the opening round, Medvedev looked to have made the transition to grass with ease – but his form deserted him against an opponent who looked confident from the off.

Medvedev stunned by Zhang in Halle, misses out on quarter-final place

Video credit: SNTV

There was a big shock in Halle on Wednesday as third seed and world number five Daniil Medvedev was dumped out of the tournament in just the second round, losing 6-3 2-6 7-6 (5) to Zhizhen Zhang.

Third seed Medvedev dropped the opening set to Zhang in just 29 minutes, the Chinese player needing just the one break to seal it by 6-3. Medvedev was out-served by his opponent, who didn’t face a break point and managed to convert one of four he had on Medvedev’s serve.

Medvedev had looked much more assured in his opening match against Nino Borges, winning comfortably in straight sets in his first outing since Roland Garros. But that form crumbled under a barrage of impressive groundstrokes from Zhang, who grew with confidence as the match progressed.

Roland-Garros Men's Singles -

'You need to behave!' - Medvedev in public spat with wife as frustrations boil over in Paris

27/05/2026 at 08:17

Medvedev opted to start coming forward at the start of the second set in a bid to mix things up, and it seemed to work, the third seed breaking his opponent’s serve for a 4-2 lead before breaking again to seal the set.

Zhang took a lengthy bathroom break after that swift second set, leaving Medvedev munching a banana and looking lost in his own thoughts.

Zhizhen Zhang is participating in Roland Garros 2024 in Paris, France, on May 31, 2024

Image credit: Getty Images

That delay didn’t seem to disrupt Medvedev’s momentum as he went up an early break in the decider as he seemed to finally have a read on Zhang’s serve. But he was then broken himself, in a match that neither player could wrestle a firm hold on.

It went all the way to a third set tie-break, which Medvedev initially looked to have control of as he pulled out a sublime passing shot to leave Zhang prone on the court, smiling as he slowly got to his feet.

But it stayed tight right to the end - with Medvedev missing his first serve on match point and then coughing a forehand long to leave Zhang walking to the net with his arms aloft for one of the best wins of his career.

He’ll play Chris Eubanks in the quarter-finals, after the American knocked out seventh seed Alexander Bublik in three sets.

Elsewhere, Matteo Berrettini continued his strong grass court season by beating qualifier Alex Michelsen 7-6 (5) 6-2, the Italian still coming back from the injuries that kept him out of the majority of the clay court season.

Having lost to Jack Draper last weekend in the final Stuttgart, Berrettini is showing encouraging form before Wimbledon, where he reached the final in 2021.

There were also wins for Jan-Lennard Struff and Arthur Fils, with a mixture of first and second round matches being played.

Jannik Sinner wasn’t on the schedule in the singles, but the Italian did play in the doubles, winning alongside Hubert Hurkacz in what on paper is a very formidable – and entertaining - doubles pairing against the American duo, Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow.

Zverev bounces back by beating Sonego

Alexander Zverev beat Lorenzo Sonego in straight sets late in the day in Halle. The German second seed broke his opponent’s first service game of the match and that proved the difference in an entertaining opening set.

Zverev certainly didn’t seem to be carrying too much baggage from his Grand Slam final defeat at Roland-Garros and looked in the sort of form to make a serious tilt at Wimbledon glory.

Germany's Alexander Zverev reacts at the ATP 500 Halle Open tennis tournament in Halle

Image credit: Getty Images

With a big serve and a willingness to come to net coupled with decent reach, the German looks set to be a contender on grass this season – with it always something of a surprise that he hasn’t enjoyed more success at SW19, having never made it past the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Sonego hadn’t managed to defeat Zverev in their first three meetings on hard and clay courts, and couldn’t do so on grass either. He put up a decent fight in Halle, finding some brilliant angles to land a few passing shot winners and taking the second set to a breaker.

But Zverev’s serve proved too much of a weapon and the German wound up a 6-4 7-6 (5) winner, advancing to play Fils in the quarter-finals.

- - -
discovery+ is the streaming home of the Olympic Games, and the only place you can watch every moment of Paris 2024 this summer.

Roland-Garros Women's Singles -

French Open Day 3 Order of Play: How to watch with Sabalenka and Sinner in action

25/05/2026 at 17:14

Rome Men's Singles -

Sinner shrugs off lack of sleep to reach Italian Open final

16/05/2026 at 17:29