Zhang Zhizhen of China reacts during the men's singles quarterfinal against Aslan Karatsev of Russia at the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, May 4, 2023. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)

Zhang Zhizhen's dream run at the Madrid Open came to an end as he failed to reach the semifinals after losing to Aslan Karatsev of Russia 7-6 (3), 6-4 on Thursday.

26-year-old Zhang, who was the first player from the Chinese mainland to reach the quarterfinals of an ATP 1000 tournament, had stunned Canada's Denis Shapovalov, Britain's 11th seed Cameron Norrie and eighth seed Taylor Fritz of the United States in the previous three rounds.

Zhang led 3-0 before dropping seven straight points in the first set tiebreak and being eliminated with a love game in the second set.

"I am happy with my condition. Back to the top level," said Karatsev, who became the second qualifier to reach the semifinals in the tournament.

"Your opponent doesn't give you any free points so you have to be there yourself," the former world No.14 added.

Karatsev will next face either Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas or lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany. The other semifinal will feature top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Croatia's Borna Coric.

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