Juncheng ‘Jerry’ Shang pulled off an astonishing upset at the Chengdu Open defeat Olympic bronze medalist Lorenzo Musetti.
Chinese-born Juncheng Shang didn’t show any signs of nerves as he took to the stage for a shot at a maiden ATP title.
The 19-year-old pulled off a number of stunning victories on his way to today’s final, with a win over last year’s finalist Roman Safiullin and second triumph over Alexander Bublik since their clash at the US Open.
Against top seed Lorenzo Musetti, Shang’s serve was broken at 6-5 to force a first set tie-break. In front of a roaring home crowd however, Shang held his nerve to come through 7-4 and move to just a set away from glory.
With his only defeat in his last eight coming to Casper Ruud in a five-set US Open thriller, Shang completed the upset against Musetti in 99 minutes, winning the second set 6-1.
Juncheng Shang breaks Chinese and ATP record with title win over Lorenzo Musetti
A compact and smart win over the top seed helped the teenager become the first Chinese player to win an ATP Tour title on home soil.
Having moved up the ATP rankings to 55th, Shang can move into the top 50 for the first time if he wins his first-round match at the Beijing Open against countryman Yunchaokete Bu.
With 19-year-old American rising star Alex Michelsen just above him, Shang is closing on becoming the highest ranked teenager in the ATP rankings.
Shang’s win has also broken another record with the teenager the first player born in 2005 to win an ATP title.
With the NextGenFinals taking place again in Jeddah at the end of the year, Shang has leapfrogged Michelsen into second in the race to qualify.
Chinese tennis is witnessing a magnificent resurgence
It’s been a glorious two months for Chinese tennis, with Li Na’s trailblazing record finally starting to get matched.
Qinwen Zheng’s Olympic heroics against Iga Swiatek and later Donna Vekic forced her name into the mainstream, despite the new sensation having reached the Australian Open final at the beginning of the year.
China also saw doubles success in Paris, with Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen narrowly missing out on the gold medal, ultimately losing to the Czechian duo Tomas Machac and Katerina Siniakova.
With Zhizhen again coming up short to a record-breaking Marin Cilic in today’s Hangzhou final, there is still much to sing about.
Chinese tennis is enjoying a glorious purple patch and with the Asian swing well underway, the home support will only continue to grow.
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