Shang Juncheng became the only "post-05" among the top 200 ATP players [promoted to the top 16 in the 2022 ATP Challenger Cary Station and ranked 195th in the world]

　　On September 19, Shang Juncheng, a 17-year-old Chinese men's tennis player, came to No. 195 in the world ranking with his performance in the top 16 at the 2022 ATP Challenger Cary Station last week.

Shang Juncheng has also become the only post-05 player in the world's top 200 in men's tennis.

Shang Juncheng's goal is to continue to improve the rankings to participate in next year's Australian Open qualifying.

　　Last week at the ATP Challenger Tour in Cary, Shang Juncheng fought No. 2 seed Thompson in three sets, lasting 3 hours and 32 minutes.

In the end, due to a physical injury, Shang Juncheng lost 6 games in a row after 2:0 in the final set, lost to his opponent and missed the quarterfinals.

The loss also suspended Shang Juncheng's plan to hit the Australian Open qualifying spot.

Later, Shang Juncheng announced that he would withdraw from the next ATP Challenger Tour in Columbus due to injury.

There is still time before the Australian Open, and Shang Juncheng is very close to qualifying for the Australian Open qualifiers.

　　Shang Juncheng has performed well this season, not only rising sharply in the rankings, but also winning the favor of retired Chilean player Rios.

At present, the two have signed a contract and officially become a master-apprentice relationship.

Rios has said that he will polish all aspects of the completion of the business.

"Technically, Shang Juncheng is very good. But tactically, he still has a long way to go. I believe he will improve the world rankings to within the top 150 next year."

　　Rios believes that Shang Juncheng's technology is very good, but it lacks the ability to series tactics.

"He has a very good left forehand, heavy and flat, kind of like me. So, I tried to get him to spin a little bit more, like Nadal. I was training with him one day and I pointed out his problems, He made adjustments very quickly," Rios said.

　　Although the two have just become masters and apprentices, Shang Juncheng is very satisfied with the new coach.

"I think the training with Rios is very helpful, and the most important thing is that it has improved my self-confidence a lot. He affirmed many of my previous ideas, including the use of techniques and tactics. I think Rios has made me better at playing. It's more efficient. Without the guidance of top players like this, I might have to try many times to find a solution," said Shang Juncheng.

　　Shang Juncheng will only start participating in senior ITF and ATP events in 2021.

That year, he won five straight games at the ITF M15 class in Fayetteville, USA.

Since then he has won three ITF M15 championships in two months.

In November last year, Shang Juncheng made his ATP Challenger debut.

By the 2022 season, Shang Juncheng has participated in 9 ATP Challenger Tournaments and won the first Challenger Championship at the ATP Challenger Tournament Lexington.

Shang Juncheng also participated in 5 ATP Tour tournaments this year, all of which were unfortunately eliminated in the first round.

On the ATP official website, Shang Juncheng's singles world ranking has soared to 195. Currently, he is only ranked 124th by Zhang Zhizhen and 131st by Wu Yibing in mainland China.

The 17-year-old Shang Juncheng has also become the highest-ranked post-05 player in men's tennis.

　　Text/Photo courtesy of our reporter Chu Peng/Visual China