BEIJING, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tennis player Zhang Ze, the world No. 219, beat Denis Istomin from Uzbekistan 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in the men's singles first round of China Open here on Monday.
Zhang and Istomin had two head-to-head competition before. Istomin won both of them.
Zhang got into the game quickly in the first set. He broke twice to take the opening set with 6-3.
In the second set, Zhang's unforced errors started to increase. Istomin seized the chance and fight back with a 6-1.
In the third set, Zhang lost his serve in the first game but he quickly broke back in the fourth.
With the roar of home crowd, Zhang played better and better. He had another two break in the sixth and eighth game and finally claimed the victory with another 6-3.
Zhang's opponent in the second round is very likely to be the current world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who will play Simone Bolelli in the first round on Tuesday.