#NextGenATP Shang storms into R2 in Winston-Salem

Shang Juncheng did not take long to kick-start his campaign at the Winston-Salem Open.

The Chinese #NextGenATP star marked his debut appearance at the hard-court ATP 250 with a commanding 6-2, 6-1 triumph against Francisco Comesana on Monday afternoon. Shang won 10 of the final 11 games to wrap a 69-minute win and set a second-round showdown with seventh seed Mariano Navone.

After winning 80 per cent (24/30) of points behind his first serve against Comesana, according to Infosys ATP Stats, Shang improved to 20-23 for the season. The 19-year-old lefty has enjoyed a breakout year on the ATP Tour in 2024, during which he has reached semi-finals in Hong Kong and Atlanta and risen as high as No. 73 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

With his victory against Comesana on Monday, Shang has also boosted his hopes of reaching the season-ending Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF for the first time. He is currently third in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, with only Arthur Fils and Alex Michelsen ahead of him.

Meanwhile a contestant at the past two editions of the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, Dominic Stricker, enjoyed a breakthrough of his own on Monday in Winston-Salem. The 22-year-old downed Federico Coria 7-5, 6-2 to notch his first tour-level win of the season.

Stricker Strikes ?@DominicStricker opens the day with a 7-5 6-2 win over Coria!@WSOpen pic.twitter.com/TcaGjqI0FV

The Swiss lefty Stricker reached a career-high No. 88 in the PIF ATP Rankings last October, but he did not compete for the first five months of this year due to a back injury. After beating Coria for his first Top 100 win since he upset Casper Ruud in Basel last October, Stricker will next prepare for a second-round clash against 10th seed Lorenzo Sonego.

The ninth-placed player in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, Learner Tien, earned his first tour-level win. In his first ATP Tour main draw match, the 18-year-old battled past fellow qualifier Tristan Schoolkate 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Former World No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta, who won his first ATP Tour title in Winston-Salem in 2016, eased past American qualifier Omni Kumar 6-2, 6-0 in just 58 minutes. The Spaniard has quickly found his form since returning from an extended period away due to an elbow injury.

"Not bad for a start. It's always tough to win in the first match. But I felt really comfortable today. I am coming from Cincinnati, where I won two matches, so I am playing with more confidence again."

In two Australian-French matchups, the Australian player won. Aleksandar Vukic eliminated fourth seed Adrian Mannarino 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-1 and 16th seed Rinky Hijikata rallied past Arthur Cazaux 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).

David Goffin, the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up, moved on with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory against Spaniard Jaume Munar. Alexandre Muller was an early winner on Monday in North Carolina. The Frenchman defeated his countryman Constant Lestienne 6-3, 6-2 to advance to face 15th seed Pavel Kotov.

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