Surging start to season fuels Chinese aces' major hopes

Beaming with confidence and hitting with force, Chinese tennis players got their 2024 campaign off to a flying start with a series of deep runs boding well for the first major of the year.

With a pair of semifinal berths on the men's and women's pro circuits as well as a strong performance at the country's United Cup debut, Chinese players picked up where they left off last year and will now be hoping to keep the momentum going at the Australian Open, where the main-draw action gets underway on Jan 14.

Leading the surge was teen sensation Shang Juncheng, who, as a wild card, fought all the way into his first career semifinal at the ATP 250 Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open.

Despite losing to world No 5 Andrey Rublev 2-1 in the semifinals on Saturday, the 18-year-old Shang had every reason to be pleased after pulling off two marathon wins over top-50 opponents — seventh-seeded Laslo Djere of Serbia and 50th-ranked Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp — in the first two rounds, followed by an upset of world No 16 Frances Tiafoe in the quarterfinals.

Midway through his Hong Kong run, Shang received a main-draw wild card from the Australian Open to secure his appearance at the season-opening major for a second year in a row.

In his Melbourne Park debut last year, he was stopped by Tiafoe in the second round. Twelve months on, Shang was able to withstand the hard-hitting American's power.

Defending the baseline with impressive elasticity and picking off Tiafoe with his forceful forehand, Shang outmaneuvered the 2022 US Open semifinalist in a 6-4, 6-4 win that sent the ardent home crowd at the Victoria Park into raptures.

Shang continued his fearless play on Saturday, opening strongly to break Rublev in his first service game before going on to take the first set, prompting the Russian to smash his racquet on his left knee in frustration.

"He was playing unbelievably," Rublev said of his teenage opponent after rallying to a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 comeback victory.

"I was thinking in some moments that I have no chance because he was dominating and I was powerless, I didn't know what to do."

Shang, who will rise to around No 142 on Monday, attributed his flying start to a solid offseason program in the United States.

"Coming here I was pretty confident. I had a very good preseason in Florida, training with great players and altering the way I work," Shang told atptour.com.

A relatively smaller player in size compared to most of his tall and powerful opponents, Shang has shifted focus from making up for his lack of power to improving his already exceptional agility, pace and reaction times.

"Rather than trying to overpower opponents who are bigger than me, I'm better off sticking to what I am best at — hitting faster, moving quicker and being more consistent on the court," said Shang.

"I was thinking I could do some good things this year ... I will keep on learning more and I just want to be a happy kid on the court in 2024. Having fun means everything to me," said the former junior world No 1.

Wang's one to watch

Also on Saturday, women's ace Wang Xiyu earned respect in New Zealand after producing a gutsy performance to scare former world No 3 Elina Svitolina in the semifinals of the WTA 250 Auckland Open.

Although losing 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 11 minutes to the experienced Ukrainian, Wang showed admirable resilience in New Zealand by battling through three three-set thrillers before facing Svitolina.

Wang overcame a one-set deficit and two rain delays in a 6-7 (3), 6-3,6-4 quarterfinal win over French world No 76 Diane Parry, bearing witness to her much-improved mental toughness that helped her claim her first career singles title at the WTA 250 tournament in Guangzhou in September.

By reaching her fifth career WTA semifinal Down Under, Wang, a 22-year-old lefty, looks primed for her best run at a major (third round at the 2022 US Open) in Melbourne Park next week.

Including Wang and wild card Shang, a total of nine players will represent China in the men's and women's main draws at the Australian Open, making it one of the largest Chinese mainland contingents ever at the year's first major.

Eight of those nine players opened their 2024 season with a win, including back-to-back singles victories for Chinese women's No 1 Zheng Qinwen and men's No 1 Zhang Zhizhen in Team China's 3-0 group triumph over the Czech Republic at the 2024 United Cup, a new international mixed-team competition launched by Tennis Australia in 2023.

Team China eventually reached the last eight in its Cup debut in Perth, where it was beaten 3-0 by a strong Polish team, spearheaded by women's world No 1 Iga Swiatek and men's No 9 Hubert Hurkacz.

However, the overall experience of challenging the Polish stars and going up against a Novak Djokovic-led Serbia in the group stage was a great way for Zheng and Zhang to tune up for their major mission in Melbourne.

"My performances at the United Cup really gave me a lot of confidence going into the new season," Zhang said after a straight-set singles loss to Hurkacz.

"It helped reassure me that I'm in quite good form at the beginning of the year. Hopefully I can carry it on to fight into the second week at the Australian Open," added the world No 58.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn