Chinese tennis prodigy Jungcheng Shang finished a spectacular week at the 2024 Chengdu Open with his maiden ATP trophy after a win over Lorenzo Musetti.
Jungcheng Shang, popularly called Jerry Shang, is one of the most talented players in the world. He's been touted as a tennis prodigy for the longest time, and this year has seen him put forward some incredible performances, including a semi-final earlier this year in Hong Kong, a quarter-final in Eastbourne, and a semi-final in Atlanta.
The youngster finally made his maiden ATP final in his native China, in Chengdu. He played a wonderful week of tennis to get a chance to face Musetti in the final, and while he was the underdog, he wasn’t going to give up that easily.
Shang is known as a hard-court specialist, and he plays his best tennis on that surface, and he certainly showed it in this match. However, Musetti started well and held his serve comfortably, but he soon ran into some problems.
While the Italian fended off first break points without too many issues, he eventually got broken at 5-5 in the opening set. Despite shifting momentum to his side at the crucial moment, Shang's inexperience showed a little because he got broken immediately, so the set ended up in a tie-break.
Despite losing that one-break advantage, the Chinese player didn’t lose his cool and kept playing well, outplaying Musetti in the tiebreak to win it 7-4. He was just a little bit sharper when it mattered the most, even though neither played spectacularly well.
Musetti had been looking somewhat uncomfortable all week long, struggling against some opponents he should generally beat without too many problems, given his qualities as a Top 20 player.
Shang, for the most part, looked good, but he’s certainly far from unbeatable as a very young player who lacks the experience that some of the best bring to the courts.
He outplayed Musetti in the crucial moments of the first-set tie-break, and it unlocked more confidence for him. Immediately at the start of the second set, Shang was able to break the Italian's serve, which was ideal for him as he could be more relaxed with such a lead.
It put all the pressure on the Italian, and he's been shaky in those situations in the past. He certainly didn’t pass the test this time around either, as he started losing even more, getting broken once more.
Shang played a much better second set compared to the first one, while Musetti completely lost his focus, which hastened the match's conclusion.
The Chinese player served better, which was hugely beneficial, as the courts in Chengdu feature quicker conditions. He was also far less nervous from the baseline compared to Musetti, who played a bad match by his standards.
Eventually, Shang won the match 7-6(4), 6-1, lifting his first ATP Tour-level title and closing up on the desired Top 50 breakthrough. He will be a player to watch at the upcoming Shanghai Masters.