Shang's secret: Less complaining, more winning

Less complaining, more winning. That has been the motto lately for #NextGenATP star Shang Juncheng and it has proven plenty successful.

The Chinese 19-year-old ticked off his latest first on Monday when he earned his maiden US Open win against 27th seed Alexander Bublik 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in three hours and 34 minutes. Shang has now reached the second round of every major main draw (also the Australian Open and Wimbledon) he has played this season.

“Very happy and tired. Very tired. Interesting match against Alex. He has everything, he throws anything at you, some second-serve bombs, also drop shots, underarm serves, anything,” Shang said. “You really have to focus the whole match, and I'm glad I did all the way ‘til the end. It was just a good win, and hopefully I can continue.”

It has been the best season of Shang’s young career. The teen is currently third in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, putting him in good position to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF for the first time.

Results that stand out include his first two ATP Tour semi-finals in Hong Kong and Atlanta, a trip to the third round of the Australian Open and a quarter-final in Eastbourne. Entering 2024 he had not reached a tour-level quarter-final.

“I think mentally, I'm a different person, also physically,” Shang said. “Not too many things have changed.”

The Chinese star has played more aggressively and improved his serve. He even explained that he is still growing height-wise. But the big difference has been in his mind.

“Until Eastbourne this year, if I remember exactly, I was complaining so much about the grass that I had no idea how to move on it, and every two steps I would slip. And so me and my parents and also my coach, we made a deal,” Shang said. “No complaining during the match, and then we'll count it as one match. Whenever you get to 50 matches, that's when you have another breakthrough.

“Right now we're counting, I think, to 16 matches. Today I was complaining a bit in the second and third, but gladly, in the fourth and fifth, I brought it all back together and had the focus again.”

It is a work in progress, just like everything in a tennis player’s game. And in many ways, it’s natural to have dialogue with your team during a match.

“If you're really anxious, or if you're really mad at something and nothing is working, obviously first thing is you go to your team and ask them, ‘What is going on?’ And the truth is that they did nothing wrong,” Shang said. “You're out there by yourself, and you're making the mistakes. So for me, it's better to just forget about the mistake. It doesn't matter how big it is, [you have to] just keep moving forward, because what you can do is focus on the next point and stop thinking about the past.”

Shang is the second-youngest player in the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Live Rankings at World No. 67. This time last year, the teen had to go through qualifying at the US Open and lost in the final round.

That match, against Otto Virtanen, was a three-setter that lasted two hours and one minute. “I ran out of gas pretty bad,” Shang recalled, cracking a smile. The lefty charged through five sets in nearly double the time on Monday.

Entering the season, Shang owned four tour-level wins. He has claimed 18 this campaign alone and is eager to push for more, starting with his second-round encounter with Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena.

But the teen is remaining level-headed. Win or lose, there is less complaining and more of a focus on staying in the moment. That includes not dwelling too much on his success.

“Whenever I win or I do something bad, I try to forget about it, because if you're always staying in the past, I feel like you can't really enjoy the present,” Shang said. “I take days off. Sometimes I don't want to practise, just like a normal guy. I try not to think about too much of the other things that happened before, just focusing on the present and what's going to happen in the future as well.”

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