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at only 19 years old, shang juncheng has already won his first tour championship title. he is not only the first player born after 2005 in chinese tennis, but also the first champion born after 2005 in the entire men's tennis world.

in the final of the atp250 chengdu open held on september 24, the young chinese player created a huge surprise, defeating the world's no. 19 and top seed musetti in straight sets.

achieving an important breakthrough in his career at such a young age has given shang juncheng even more room for imagination in his already bright future. in addition to his outstanding playing skills, his calm game mentality was also well demonstrated in this final.

it will be worth looking forward to how many surprises this young player can bring to people in the upcoming china open and shanghai masters, as well as more tours and grand slam tournaments in the future.

first time in the finals, showing a calm attitude

for shang juncheng and all the fans who follow him, reaching the final of the atp tour is already a surprise. he has been in the semi-finals of the atp tour twice before, but he was just one step away from the final.

in the first tour final of his life, the young shang juncheng demonstrated an extremely mature and calm mentality in the game.

facing the tournament's top seed and world no. 19 musetti, shang juncheng, as the underdog, was not originally favored. after all, the former has more tour experience and has already achieved a record of 37 wins and 23 losses this year, including the semi-finals of the grand slam wimbledon.

however, even facing such a strong opponent, shang juncheng was not at all nervous. he actively confronted his opponent at the baseline in the first set, using his quick movements and tenacious defense to gain an advantage. after making a key break in the 11th game, he served to win the set.

although the opponent dragged the game into a tiebreak, shang juncheng, who missed the opportunity, was not affected by negative emotions. he still showed a stable performance in the tiebreak and even served two aces in the final stage, ending the opponent in the most powerful way.

facing his opponent musetti in the second set, shang juncheng, who was getting closer and closer to victory, remained extremely calm. instead, his opponent lost more and more rhythm. in the end, the young chinese player won the second set 6-1 and became the second mainland chinese player to win the atp tour singles championship after wu yibing.

after the match, shang juncheng himself also talked about the importance of mentality, "this week's matches were very difficult, but i played good tennis and stayed calm."

"especially in the first set, both of us played very well. i struggled a little physically. some of the balls were played for a long time and my opponent also scored a lot of beautiful points. fortunately, in the tiebreak, i was very calm and listened to the coach's advice. i tried to do better in serve and forehand. i am very happy that it worked."

winning the championship opens up more possibilities

this week in chengdu was indeed not easy for shang juncheng. as he revealed after the game, he actually suffered from a heat cold before the first round of the game. he even had a slight fever the day before the game and was not in the best physical condition.

"my thought at the time was to take it one point at a time and see what the situation was. fortunately, my team and my father's family were here, and the doctors also helped me get through it."

“it was really difficult in the first few days, but i got better and better afterwards, so i’m really happy to win this championship, especially at home.”

although still a young player, shang juncheng was very mature in his conversation when facing the interview with reporters. after winning the championship, in addition to thanking his team and medical staff, he did not forget to mention the audience who supported him.

"the audience cheered very hard. when i was tired, they kept encouraging and applauding me, which is very important for the players playing at home." when he held up the trophy, he did not forget to pay tribute to his opponent, "i want to congratulate musetti. everyone should give him a big applause. he performed very well this week."

with this championship in his pocket, shang juncheng not only improved his current world ranking to a career-best 52nd place, but also rose to second place in the atp next generation finals qualifying list, getting closer and closer to this year-end event.

considering his age, shang juncheng's future development space is even more exciting. "i never thought i would win a (tour) championship so early in my career, and i am grateful for that."

behind this success, he believes that a healthy mentality is the foundation. "i have been trying to put tennis second. the people around you and your family are more important. i have always focused on myself and my friends and family, so when i stand on the court, i will enjoy it, and when i walk off the court, i won't always think about tennis."

keep calm and look forward to the next surprise

in an interview with the paper, jiang wei, former head coach of the national men's tennis team, analyzed shang juncheng's strengths as a player. "he has already done a very good job of stabilizing his emotions at this age. the height he reached at the age of 19 was never reached by chinese players of the same age before, so he has more time to accumulate experience and improve his level."

"with his current state, as long as he can make gradual progress and strike a good balance, he will definitely bring more hope to chinese men's tennis in the future."

at the same time, jiang wei also admitted that as his performance gradually improved, shang juncheng would inevitably be subject to more targeted research from his opponents, which meant greater challenges. "compared to when you have no burden, when others attack you, your mental state and challenges in all aspects are different."

indeed, the competitive pressure in the professional tennis arena is not easy to overcome for any player who aspires to reach the top. fortunately, shang juncheng learned how to face high pressure and challenges from his parents who are also athletes.

"be grateful for everything you have, because when you succeed, it doesn't mean you really deserve it, maybe you are just lucky. and when others fail, it doesn't mean they didn't do well in some aspects, maybe they were just unlucky." after holding the trophy, shang juncheng described the peaceful mentality he learned from his family.

"i may be 30 or 35 in the blink of an eye. you never know what will happen tomorrow, so you have to enjoy what you have and try to enjoy life 100 percent."

shang juncheng always has a teddy bear hanging on his golf bag, which is a detail that proves his optimism in facing pressure. "bring the teddy bear to the court. after all, you can't be angry with a teddy bear. if you are angry with a teddy bear, there must be something wrong with you," he said with a smile after the game.

"so i just try to stay calm and whenever he falls i pick him up so he can watch the game. there's really no secret to it, it's just a good mental attitude."

after winning the championship, shang juncheng said his celebration plan was simple, just eating a piece of tiramisu cake. after all, after a brief moment of joy, he immediately had to face the challenge of the china open.

as he himself said, "i don't know what will happen in the next game, but i will play one game at a time." with a positive attitude, this chinese rising star will continue to move towards a greater future.