#NextGenATP Shang storms into R2 in Winston-Salem

  • Posted: Aug 19, 2024

Shang Juncheng did not take long to kick-start his campaign at the Winston-Salem Open.

The Chinese #NextGenATP star marked his debut appearance at the hard-court ATP 250 with a commanding 6-2, 6-1 triumph against Francisco Comesana on Monday afternoon. Shang won 10 of the final 11 games to wrap a 69-minute win and set a second-round showdown with seventh seed Mariano Navone.

After winning 80 per cent (24/30) of points behind his first serve against Comesana, according to Infosys ATP Stats, Shang improved to 20-23 for the season. The 19-year-old lefty has enjoyed a breakout year on the ATP Tour in 2024, during which he has reached semi-finals in Hong Kong and Atlanta and risen as high as No. 73 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

With his victory against Comesana on Monday, Shang has also boosted his hopes of reaching the season-ending Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF for the first time. He is currently third in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, with only Arthur Fils and Alex Michelsen ahead of him.

Meanwhile a contestant at the past two editions of the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, Dominic Stricker, enjoyed a breakthrough of his own on Monday in Winston-Salem. The 22-year-old downed Federico Coria 7-5, 6-2 to notch his first tour-level win of the season.

The Swiss lefty Stricker reached a career-high No. 88 in the PIF ATP Rankings last October, but he did not compete for the first five months of this year due to a back injury. After beating Coria for his first Top 100 win since he upset Casper Ruud in Basel last October, Stricker will next prepare for a second-round clash against 10th seed Lorenzo Sonego.

Alexandre Muller was also an early winner on Monday in North Carolina. The Frenchman defeated his countryman Constant Lestienne 6-3, 6-2 to advance to face 15th seed Pavel Kotov.

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