China's Zhu makes breakthrough at Wimbledon

Rising tennis player Zhu Lin keeps Chinese flag flying after upsetting the 25th seed, Pavlyuchenkova, in two straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, to make her first entry into the women's singles round of 32 in the 2024 Wimbledon Championships.

Zhu will face the dark horse from New Zealand, Sun Lulu, in the next round.

"Although the match was delayed due to rain, I played very relaxed overall," Zhu said in a post-match interview. "I did a very thorough study of Pavlyuchenkova before the match. Her performance is very stable, with her WTA ranking consistantly maintaining in the top thirty or even top twenty for many years, and she has also reached the finals of the Grand Slam before. So I knew that meeting her in a Grand Slam event is a very tricky thing, and I need to prepare very well."

In this match, Zhu made 20 winners with only 7 unforced errors, while Pavlyuchenkova made as many as 31 unforced errors.

"One thing I did well today was not to confront her head-on, but to use her strength to hit different placements, making her run more, because she plays very fast and very aggressive. As to her receive, I was very smart in the serve today, making a lot of body-hits to make it difficult for her to hit powerful shot."

The grass court of Wimbledon is uniquely compatible with Zhu's play style.

"The low bounce of the grass court is very compatible with my play style, and I like to play on such a fast pitch a lot."

In the new season, Zhu Lin's play style has changed significantly.

At the end of last year's small year-end, she said in an interview with the media that she would strengthen the offensive nature of her serve and the aggressiveness of her attack. She has changed from the previous bottom line defense counterattack, the attack has become more sharp, the points are more accurate, and is becoming a more offensive player.