Although altmaier

China's Zhang Zhizhen missed two match points and suffered a first-round exit at the ATP Italian Open on Wednesday, falling to Germany's Daniel Altmaier 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Zhang, who entered the main draw using a protected ranking, had won their only previous meeting in 2023. In their latest encounter, Zhang broke in the third game of the opening set and maintained his advantage to take the set 6-4.