When Juncheng Shang realized what was really happening to his body, tennis faded into the background. Difficult, of course, when you are an absolute passionate. The Chinese, once trained by Marcelo Ríos and now by Dante Bottini, knew how to wait… and is already shining again on the ATP circuit.
Juncheng Shang only has 18 years and, nevertheless, it seems that it has already been several in the competitive focus. His precocity, his results and his refreshing style of play generated a well-deserved expectation. It seemed that China, at last, had a representative of many carats. A guy trained in the competitiveness of Bradenton, guided for a good part of his adolescence by a crack, Marcelo Rios, who saw limitless potential. But rarely does the road stay in a straight line: before he matured, ‘Jerry’ has learned to be patient and overcome the unforeseen on a difficult road. After breaking up with Ríos, who got into fights with his father, Shang raffled a mononucleosis… and now it shines again.
He does it in the ATP Washington 2023where he made his debut with a meritorious victory in three sleeves against Ben Shelton, whom he also defeated last week in Atlanta. But before that, it is necessary to refresh what has happened to Shang in the last few clearly turbulent months. The first key news in his evolution is about his arrival on his bench Dante Bottini, former coach of names like Kei Nishikori or Grigor Dimitrov. The Argentine drew up a new plan that bore fruit from the first bars: Shang qualified for the main draw of the Open the Australia and opened his box of triumphs in a Grand Slam. Not bad, of course, for a guy who’s only 17 years old… but what he didn’t know is that the worst was yet to come.
It was then that the mononucleosis, an enemy of several familiar faces in the world of tennis over the past decades, appeared on the scene. Shang racked up just one win between Australia and Roland Garros, missing much of the first quarter of the season as she battled illness. In a few months she matured suddenly, accepting adversity and looking for a personal evolution while she moved away from the slopes.
“You’re doing something you love and all of a sudden you can’t do it anymore. I’d say for three or four months, that’s not the best feeling in the world. I came back though, pushed myself to the limit, my whole team rowed with me. and he contributed and now we are here, back on the circuit. Most of the time I was very bored, I watched my teammates compete on TV. That was funny, I learned a lot of things”, confessed in statements to the ATP. His coach, Dante Bottini, shares the diagnosis: Jerry, a tennis madmancould not be still. “He can’t be calm. I told him many times to take a couple of days off, not to do anything. And, even so, he always ended up on the golf course or having a ball with his mother or father for a while.”
The reason is none other than the passion and love that Shang and his family feel for this sport, an impetus that goes beyond the track and that is easy for Bottini himself to identify. “Jerry loves tennis, you realize very quickly that it is so. Follow all the scores and all the players. Obviously, he also loves to play. That’s why he wanted so much to come back very soon after his illness.”
WITHOUT A DOUBT AND WITH CHINA AS A TARGET
When Shang was fully recovered, he transferred all his energy to his shots, his mobility and a very balanced, fresh tennis, with a forehand that can do a lot of damage. He qualified for the final table of Roland Garros, where he could not close a 2-0 victory against Juan Pablo Varillas, and now he dazzles on the North American courts, where he reached the semifinals in the Chicago Challenger and has already accumulated victories in Atlanta and Washington (both over Ben Shelton). Jerry can’t hide his joy, even though his big goals are a little further on the horizon.
“I’m looking forward to playing my first US Open as a professional and obviously the most exciting part of the remainder of the year for me will be going to China and play again in front of the public”. Shang’s desire cannot be hidden, although there is still a long way to go. One of the great pearls of the circuit, one of the most exciting names, has been able to recover in the face of adversity and warn the world of tennis that they can continue to count on him. With Bottini at the helm and enough work ethic to make a splash, Jerry excites a China that also has Zhizhen Zhang and Yibing Wu. Write down their names.
2023-08-01 21:26:24
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