On January 16, the first round of the Australian Open continued, and in the just-concluded match, China's 18-year-old Shang Juncheng once again brought good news, he won two sets in a row in a 1-2 situation, and reversed the American star McDonald 3-2 to advance to the second round. This is the second round of the two men's singles after Zhang Zhizhen, setting the best in the history of the Chinese men's singles Australian Open.
Born in 2005, Shang Juncheng is 18 years old and currently ranked 142nd in the world. He made his debut as a talented teenager and won his first victory in the main draw of the 2023 Australian Open, becoming the first player to win the main draw of the Australian Open in the history of Chinese men's singles. However, after the Australian Open, Shang Juncheng did not make significant progress, and compared with Zhang Zhizhen and Wu Yixuan, he lagged behind in an all-round way.
At this year's Australian Open, Shang Juncheng got a wild card and directly advanced to the main event. In the first round, he played against the American star McDonald. McDonald, ranked 42nd in the world, have faced each other once and the winner was McDonald.
In the first set, Shang Juncheng took the lead in serving, and the score of each of them in the first 7 games came to 4-3. In the 8th game, Shang Juncheng completed the break, and the score came to 5-3. Shang Juncheng did not miss the opportunity and successfully held serve to win the first set 6-3. In the second set, Shang Juncheng's state declined significantly, and he only won one game and lost the set quickly 1-6.
In the third set, Shang Juncheng was broken in the 7th game, chasing to 3-6 and losing another set, and the big score came to 1-2, which was very dangerous. In the fourth set, Shang Juncheng improved his state, completed the break in the first game, and finally maintained this advantage to the end, winning 6-4, and the big score came to 2-2.
In the fifth set, Shang Juncheng had an all-round advantage, and as soon as he came up, he broke serve in the first and third games in a row, and the score came to 3-0. Shang Juncheng did not miss the opportunity, won 6-2, reversed the big score 3-2, and advanced to the second round in an upset.
Throughout the game, Shang Juncheng completed a key reversal with his changeable serving and monetization ability. Being able to win in 5 sets, Shang Juncheng broke the limit of physical fitness and was a big breakthrough. This is the second consecutive year that Shang Juncheng has reached the second round of the Australian Open, which is very good.
Shang Juncheng and Zhang Zhizhen entered the second round of men's singles at the same time, creating another history of Chinese men's tennis. Shang Juncheng's second-round opponent is qualifier Nagar, and Zhang's second-round opponent is No. 21 seed Amber. Shang Juncheng is expected to go further, Zhang Zhizhen also has hope of qualifying, and the Chinese men's singles is expected to be the best again.