The 16-year-old tennis player has finished his business
Decorate your dreams with scoring again and again (the sports rookies are growing)
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The new generation of sports continues to grow, injecting new vitality into Chinese sports.
On the training ground, they worked hard and sweat; on the arena, they used tenacious hard work to create a youthful demeanor.
This edition launches the "Rookie Sports Players Growing" series of reports, focusing on those budding young athletes and telling their growth stories.
stay tuned.
Participating for 4 consecutive weeks is a huge physical exhaustion for the athletes, but Shang Juncheng has shown tenacious willpower in the tight schedule.
On March 7th, Beijing time, in the ITF (International Tennis Federation) Junior A Level Tournament in Crechuma, Brazil, Shang Juncheng won the men’s singles championship trophy and raised his youth world ranking to fourth. And he is also the only "post-05" player among the top 50 youngsters in the world.
In the 2021 season, Shang Juncheng's current record is 13 wins and 2 losses.
With a left-handed racket, quick pace, and tenacious defense, the 16-year-old tennis player has distinctive characteristics on the court.
"I am particularly happy to learn new techniques and tactics"
Shang Juncheng's father is former Chinese national football player Shang Yi, and his mother is table tennis world champion Wu Na.
At the age of 5, Shang Juncheng picked up a racket for the first time.
"I practice big ball and my wife practice small ball. We all like tennis, so let our children start to touch this middle-sized ball." Shang Yi said.
From going to the club to train 3 times a week, to training 6 times a week and participating in competitions on weekends, Shang Juncheng improved himself a little bit. He said: "I like the fierce competition of tennis, and I am very happy to learn new techniques and tactics." Soon he will stand out in the national youth competition. At the age of 10, he won the National Youth Tennis Championship under the age of 12 championship. At the age of 11, he went to the Sanchez Online School in the United States to continue his studies.
In the next few years, Shang Juncheng successively won the 12-year-old clay court championship, the 14-year-old hard court championship, and won two singles championships in the ITF youth group.
From 2017 to 2019, Shang Juncheng ranked first among tennis players of the same age in the United States for three consecutive years, and his hard training and desire for victory have yielded fruit.
With his outstanding record, Shang Juncheng received an invitation from the American IMG Tennis School at the age of 14. He not only won a full scholarship, but also got the opportunity to train with professional players.
"Training with them made me realize that I have the ability to play professional games." Shang Juncheng said frankly, "Although there are still some gaps, I can already'break my wrists' with them."
In 2020, the 15-year-old Shang Juncheng won two straight sets in the Brighton Invitational, beating the 192nd ranked Canadian player Polanski in the world.
In the whole game, he dared to fight and fight, showing a wealth of technical reserves and changeable tactics. In the second set, he used a wonderful crotch hit to get a break point.
"I played everything." In the whole game, Shang Jun saved 6 break points and seized 4 break points, showing a stable psychological quality.
"To break through on the field is a kind of enjoyment"
Training with top players, Shang Juncheng witnessed their self-discipline and constantly improved their requirements.
"When the Japanese player Kei Nishikori played with me, he grasped every ball very tightly." Shang Juncheng said, hoping that he would give his opponent the impression of never giving up and working hard.
This year's Spring Festival, Shang Juncheng was spent in the competition.
Four consecutive races tested his physical fitness and his will.
In the third round of the game, Shang Juncheng encountered American player Bruno in the semifinals. After three and a half hours of fighting with his opponent, Shang Juncheng regretfully lost: "In that game, he was in a bad state, and he was also reflecting after the game. If you find a problem, you must find a solution.” In the fourth race a few days later, Shang Juncheng and Bruno met again in the semifinals.
Facing an old opponent, Shang Juncheng adjusted his style of play in time, and finally won the game in the tiebreaker of the decisive round.
Entering the final, Shang Juncheng admitted that his physical fitness had reached the limit, but he used flexible tactics to disrupt the opponent's deployment, and constantly mobilized the opponent, and finally won the championship trophy.
Shang Juncheng said: "It is a kind of enjoyment to find a way to improve in times of difficulty and to break through on the field."
Find problems in the game and make up for the shortcomings in training.
Now Shang Juncheng is adjusting his serve under the guidance of his coach. "I hope that through the change of action, he can have a better serving rhythm, reduce double errors, and make serve a more powerful scoring weapon." Shang Juncheng said.
"The goal is to do better today than yesterday"
With regular schedules, consideration of study and training, adequate sleep, and reasonable diet, Shang Juncheng always requires himself to be a professional player.
Shang Yi has always been by his son's side. "Father never interferes with my specific training and competition, but he will review the game with me and help me analyze it." Shang Juncheng said with emotion, "My parents taught me more about how to be a human being. Only by becoming a better person can you become a better player." Shang Yi knows that it is not easy to become an outstanding professional athlete, so he hopes that Shang Juncheng can think independently and solve problems in the face of difficulties.
Shang Yi said that tennis itself is a sport that requires constant thinking to make choices, and his son can also comprehend many truths in the process of playing.
"The most important thing is to not think about the results during the game. The most important thing is to do a good job in the process. The goal is to do better today than yesterday." Shang Juncheng always focuses on the present and completes every day's tasks down-to-earth. He hopes to learn from different elite athletes. Learn from their strengths.
Youth is always going forward, youth is always fearless, and there are always unlimited possibilities in the future.
The 16-year-old Shang Juncheng waved his racket and decorated his dreams with scoring again and again.
Our reporter Li Shuo