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on the evening of september 24th, beijing time, chinese young player shang juncheng appeared in the final of the atp250 chengdu open.

facing the tournament's top seed and world no. 19 musetti, shang juncheng showed calmness and concentration beyond his peers, eventually winning the match in straight sets 7-6 (4), 6-1, winning the atp tour championship for the first time in his career. this is also the second tour championship for the chinese tennis association's men's singles.

"it feels great to win my first championship at home. thank you everyone!" with the chengdu open championship, the 19-year-old will move up one place in the world ranking to 52nd. since shang juncheng has no points to defend in the remaining season, there is still room for him to improve his world ranking.

as a shining new star in chinese men's tennis, shang juncheng made it through the first round of his grand slam debut at the 2023 australian open. entering the 2024 season, his progress has also been quite rapid.

at this year's australian open, he made it all the way to the third round of the grand slam, setting a personal best in history. he then made it to the second round at wimbledon and the third round at the us open, further improving his world ranking.

shang juncheng has also achieved a lot in the tour this year. he has reached the semi-finals of the atp tour twice, in hong kong and atlanta.

in chengdu, shang juncheng went one step further, defeating german player hanfmann 6-4 in the semifinals and reaching the tour final for the first time. before the final, his real-time world ranking had reached 53rd, a new personal best.

when asked about the rapid rise of chinese men's tennis in recent years, shang juncheng said he was happy to be part of this wave. "we are doing really well now, and i am very happy that i can make a breakthrough."

after advancing to the final, shang juncheng further consolidated his third place in the atp next generation finals qualifiers list, and is getting closer to his appearance in this year-end event for young players.

"it's my first time to reach the final. i'm very happy to be able to participate in the final of the tour at home. my opponent will definitely go 100% and so will i." facing this final, the young chinese player said frankly that he would not hold back at all.

in fact, shang juncheng is no stranger to musetti. "i trained with him in miami about a year or two ago. when i was 17 or 18 years old, he was already a world-class player, a few years older than me. he is a great person and an excellent player. i am looking forward to playing against him."

shang juncheng, just as he said, went all out against the top seed of the tournament. from the first set, he was not at a disadvantage in the baseline confrontation, and the two sides were closely tied. in the 11th game, shang juncheng made a key break, but unfortunately he was broken back immediately. after entering the tiebreak, shang juncheng continued to work hard and served two consecutive aces to win the first set 7-4 in the tiebreak.

in the second set, shang juncheng was fully unleashed. in just 17 minutes, he even broke the belt to lead 3-0. whether it was a short round or a multi-shot round, shang juncheng was able to restrict musetti and eat away at his opponent bit by bit. his beautiful winning points also always left his opponent helpless. in the end, shang juncheng won the game cleanly with a score of 6-1.

being able to make it all the way to the finals and win the championship is a valuable breakthrough in the career of shang juncheng, who is only 19 years old. and this experience is bound to give him more confidence and motivation for future progress.

in an interview with atp officials, shang juncheng also talked about the current blossoming of chinese tennis on the tour. "we have done much better in men's tennis. in the past, chinese women's tennis has always been excellent. i am very happy that (men's tennis) can make some breakthroughs now. i just focus on myself and become a better player, because i know if you want to be one of the best players, there is still a long way to go."