Zhang Zhizhen’s way of coming back from a shoulder injury and completely changing his front | ATP Tour
United Cup
Zhang Zhizhen’s way of coming back from a shoulder injury and completely changing his front
The Chinese star reflects on his United Cup journey
January 03, 2026
Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour
Zhang Zhizhen is China’s top male singles player in the United Cup.
Written by Andrew Eichenholz
China’s history maker is back in the United Cup.
The first Chinese man to break the Top 100 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Zhang Zhizhen, has once again represented his country on the world stage in the United Cup. But this plan is different for the 29-year-old righty.
Zhang is world number 410 after an injury-plagued 2025 season in which he suffered a shoulder injury, which started when he was 15.
“I believe that sometimes over the years, for a few days, I felt shoulder pain, but I thought the problem was over,” Zhang told ATPTour.com. “It seemed like last year, I realized that maybe in two weeks the problem would be gone. But it was still there and we did an MRI with an injection to see the problem.”
The former world number 31 started to experience pain in the front of his shoulder in February while competing in Doha and Dubai. It started to go downhill and became a big problem the following month when he traveled to the United States for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
The photo showed that his injury was actually inside the shoulder and closer to the back than the front. He would not play a competitive game for more than six months.
For the next two months, Zhang did not play tennis at all. Instead, the Chinese star is exercising every day, playing on his computer and spending time with his family.
“But most of the time I was running,” said Zhang with a smile.
“In those times I sometimes missed playing tennis a little bit. I knew when tennis would start it would be a little easier. Doing the fitness part, the exercises, only one session of the fitness part was really hard. So I wish I had tennis, but I couldn’t at that time.”
The only time Zhang left Shanghai during that time was in late April to attend the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid. He spent most of his time staying in shape, improving his posture and biding his time.
Zhang started playing tennis a little in July and didn’t feel very comfortable on the court when he first started.
“But at least I was moving on the tennis court, so I didn’t forget about the size of the court,” said Zhang. “It was still good. But playing rallies was a little different.”
What he was able to do was change his game. Zhang believes his forward swing was the cause of his injury, so the time off allowed him to completely overhaul his swing.
“This before, I wanted to change already. It was the best time to change completely,” Zhang said. “Without this shoulder injury, I don’t think we would have changed that, we made such a big difference, we would have made small changes to help, but now we have changed everything.
“The preparation, the use of power, the way to transfer power and the slow motion of the swing, which is everything. To be natural and match everyone else.”
Zhang, who returned from three tournaments in China in September, will try to show the progress he has made in the United Cup. China will face Belgium on Saturday in Sydney.
