Shang Juncheng on his U.S. Open debut: An exciting journey

Shang Juncheng of China made his debut at the U.S. Open in 2024 and went to the third round after defeating the No. 27 seed, Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan and Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain in the first two rounds respectively.

Shang faced the tournament's No. 8 seed Casper Rudd of Norway in the third round. He led 2-0 in that match before losing his advantage.

"It's so exciting," Shang told reporters on August 30. "From my five-set win in the first round to this long battle today, I feel satisfied. I still have a lot to learn. I hope I can find the problems and fix them as soon as possible."

Shang was born into a family of athletes. His father was a Chinese national team football player and his  mother a world table tennis mixed doubles champion. Shang  didn't pick either of these sports as his career, but he had full support from his parents.

"My parents have been very supportive," Shang said. "My father trained with me every day when I was a kid and took me to every match I played. You could say that we grew and learnt new things together in tennis. I'm lucky to have them help and encourage me all the time."

Shang, 19, reached the third round at both the Australian Open and the U.S. Open this year. He has risen to a career-high No. 72 on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)'s world rankings table and will play in a series of tournaments in Asia in the coming days.

"I'm about to begin the 'Asia Season'. I guess I expected too much from myself last year and overthought it," Shang said. "This year, I'm just gonna enjoy playing at home as well as all the applause and love from supporters. I will try to play every game well and see how it goes."