Juncheng Shang writes history for 2005 generation as the first player..
Competing in their last season on the ITF junior Tour, players born in 2001 are the dominant figures in the ITF junior rankings, occupying eight of the first ten spots. Chun Hsin Tseng (he doesn't play junior events, focusing on pro career), Adrian Andreev, Brandon Nakashima, Filip Cristian Jianu and Emilio Nava are the leaders of the pack together with the Australian Open champion Lorenzo Musetti, world no. 2 and the best player born in 2002. The Dane Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune won J1 Beaulieu-sur-Mer crown at the end of April and he is the one to look for from those born in 2003, together with the American Martin Damm who has also delivered some significant results in 2019 to stand just outside the top-20.
We have to dig deep through the list to find the best player born in 2004, stopping at Chak Lam Coleman Wong who is currently ranked 224th after claiming the third ITF junior title at J4 Ipoh event in April. The majority of players of his age are making their first steps on the ITF junior Tour and we can find only three of them in the top-450, gathering experience and preparing for more serious runs in the years to come. Speaking about those born in 2005, we can trace 29 of them on the list at the moment and none in the top-600, too young and inexperienced to fight against older and more developed rivals.
That could change soon, though, with the 14-year-old Juncheng Shang claiming the first ITF junior title for 2005 generation at J4 Beijing tournament last week. Competing in only the fifth tournament at this level, Juncheng went all the way after toppling Qian Sun 6-2, 6-3 in the final to achieve the first prominent milestone on the top-tier junior level. Back in 2017, the Chinese claimed the title at the National Clay Court Championships in Orlando, Florida, taking all seven matches in straight sets for prestigious U12 crown.
In December, he added Eddie Herr title to his tally, finishing U12 duties in style and focusing on a higher category from 2018, claiming three U14 tournaments in the past season. After another success in the USA last March when he grabbed USTA National Level 3 Tournament at Indian Wells, Juncheng went home and won the first U18 event in Beijing to write his name in history books and make himself the youngster to watch in the years to come.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2VXILo1
No comments