Shang Juncheng returned the ball during the game
On January 18, in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open men’s singles competition, the Chinese rookie Shang Cheng, who participated in the Grand Slam for the first time, lost to the No. 16 seed and American player 4-6, 4-6, 1-6 Tiafoe missed the third round of the Australian Open. Although he stopped in the top 64, Shang Chengcheng has opened a new page for men’s tennis in mainland China.
This page was not easy to turn. In 2010, 5-year-old Shang Juncheng held the hand of his father Shang Yi, walked into the ATP China Open for the first time, and witnessed a world-class tennis competition for the first time. Perhaps at that moment, the seeds of tennis sprouted in his heart. From the China Open to the Australian Open Grand Slam, this young tennis seedling deserves more care and expectation.
The Australian Open turned out to attract the attention of the world
2023 is a good year for Chinese tennis. The Australian Open ushered in an unprecedented 11 Chinese players. Except for Wang Qiang and Zheng Saisai who retired due to injury, the other 9 players attacked separately. The most eye-catching among them is undoubtedly Shang Juncheng, who is not yet 18 years old. The first time he played a Grand Slam, he reached the second round of the main match. This born genius has attracted the attention of the world.
Before the Australian Open qualifying match that started on the 9th, Shang Juncheng promised to Wu Yibing and Zhang Zhizhen who also qualified for the Australian Open: “After these three days, I will go to the Australian Open to find you.” Come true, Shang Juncheng became the first “post-05” player to succeed in the Grand Slam for the first time.
When it came to the main match, Shang Juncheng faced the German “cannon” Ott in the first round without any fear. He cleverly resolved the power of his opponent’s serve and slowly established his own advantage. In the end, he defeated his opponent with a big score of 3 to 1, showing a maturity and calmness that did not match his age. There is a very interesting detail in the game: After losing the third set, Shang Chengcheng applied to go to the bathroom. “At that time, I said to myself, why are you so nervous and irritable? This is the Grand Slam you want to participate in the most. You should enjoy this game and enjoy tennis.” This self-analysis allowed Shang Chengcheng to calm down again and put the new power into the body.
The youthful years after the start of China Open
Shang Juncheng, who was just 5 years old in 2010, may have been a little ignorant when watching the China Open at the Yingyue Stadium of the China Open, but his father, Shang Yi, already had expectations for his child’s future. Shang Chengcheng later said that since he was six or seven years old, he has been training to become a professional tennis player.
Shang Juncheng is a standard “second generation body”, and his father, Shang Yi, was the youngest member of the former Jianlibao youth team. After going to Brazil for a year of training, Shang Yi joined the Beijing Guoan Club. He also traveled to Spain and joined the Spanish club Jerez. Shang Juncheng’s mother, Wu Na, is a national table tennis player in China and once won the mixed doubles world championship with her partner Liu Guoliang. Both of them are optimistic about Shang’s choice of tennis, which is not too big or too small, and believe that excellent sports genes will have a profound impact on Shang.
Shang Yi’s experience of playing football abroad helped him broaden his horizons and gave him his own ideas about his son’s tennis training. He sent Shang Chengcheng to the United States early to train at the Sanchez Tennis Academy in Florida. Up to now, Shang Chengcheng still keeps his training base in Florida.
Since 2017, Shang Juncheng has become the number one golfer of his age in the United States for three consecutive years. At the age of 14, he transferred to the IMG Academy to continue his tennis studies. In 2019, he became the first “post-05” player to win the ITF Youth Tournament. In 2021, Shang Chengcheng proved himself in the Grand Slam Youth Championship. The French Open men’s singles reached the quarter-finals; Wimbledon reached the semi-finals; the US Open reached the final and won the runner-up. In 2022, Shang Juncheng moved to the adult arena, and his ranking broke through the top 200, becoming the number one player among “post-05” players. In 2023, Shang Juncheng’s first grand slam attack will surprise everyone and enter the second round. It can be said that so far, Shang Juncheng’s tennis career has been smooth sailing, making many people envious.
Mental Exercise Benefits Parents
How can this Chinese boy who is not yet 18 years old be so strong? This is the question thrown by countless media. The answer given by Shang Juncheng is the sports gene from his parents, the support from the team, and the psychological training and exercise he received since childhood.
The current business completion process is on the right path. His coaching team will be re-stabilized at the end of 2022. The previous world No. 1 Rios worked with him briefly, but was eventually excluded from the team by Shang Yi. “Today’s new coach, Dante, I think is a very positive person.” Shang Juncheng said, “He always makes me enjoy tennis and enjoy the happiness that this sport brings to me. My team and my own All the hard work paid off.”
Interestingly, this is not the first time Chinese tennis fans have heard professional players say they want to enjoy tennis. However, not many players can really do this. Shang Juncheng said that tennis is a “frustrating game”. Because of this, Shang Juncheng pays special attention to his mental training.
In this Grand Slam, Shang Juncheng, who is 1.80 meters tall, has continued to increase his physical strength, so that he no longer suffers from disadvantages in adult competitions, and his stable mentality in the competition has also been widely praised. The outside world is a little puzzled, how did he achieve psychological stability at such an early stage of his career?
Shang Juncheng said that this is due to the core of the team and the cultivation of his father and mother. Previously, Zheng Qinwen, a rising star in the Chinese women’s singles, once said that he would like to chat with his parents, but he could not talk about tennis. Shang Juncheng said that he and his parents can talk about everything, “They are very good professional athletes, and they must have more competition experience than me.”
Shang Juncheng said that he had exercised psychologically with his parents very early. The kung fu in this is not something that can be practiced in one or two games. “We only have four or five hours of training time every day, and it is even shorter during the game period. When I am with my family and the team, the exercise of words and deeds from life is very important to me. From the time I was eleven Since I was two years old, I have been working hard with my family on mental training.” With Shang’s success, future young tennis stars may also add psychological lessons to their training.Return to Sohu to see more
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