Shang upsets Shelton in two sets at the Atlanta Open

Juncheng Shang has Ben Shelton’s number.

For the third straight time, the 19-year-old defeated a higher-ranked, older Ben Shelton. This time, it was in two sets, winning 7(8)-6(6), 6-4. It’s the second time Shang has knocked Shelton out of his home tournament in two years. Last year was in the Round of 32. Now, Shang will be the first Chinese player ever in the Atlanta Open quarterfinals.

There’s something about Shang that’s allowed him to beat Shelton three times in a row. Shelton is one of the best players in the world but he can’t get past Shang. For his part, Shang contributes it partly to his handedness. Both he and Shelton are lefties.

“There’s not really a secret,” Shang said, smiling after the match. “I think I return really well against lefty serves because with a slice, I have my forehand which is a little bit longer reach and overall I moved pretty well. So I don’t think Ben likes players that get a lot of returns back. So I think that’s kind of the key but again, you know, this match could go either way. Next time I play him, I cannot guarantee to play again like this so I just gotta stay on the ground and hopefully do better tomorrow.”

GET MORE LOCAL SPORTS NEWS: Subscribe to Sideline, a weekly newsletter about sports. Click here .

Shang isn’t understating how close the match was, especially the first set. It went to a tiebreaker and took until Shang scored eight points to win with Shelton securing six. It was stellar tennis from both players, both of them testing each other. Shang was quieter during the match while Shelton sometimes got involved with the crowd, which was very much on the hometown boy’s side.

“I’m from China, so we don’t have too many tournaments compared to the US,” Shang said. “But I definitely feel some love here in Atlanta, some people cheering for me, a lot of kids cheering for me and Chinese fans too. All year around we play outside of our country, so I’m kind of used to it but again, the fans were really respectful and speaking of that, I can’t wait to go back to China.”

Shang advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time and made history upon breaking Shelton’s serve on the last game of the second set to win the match. It was a well-played bout between two of tennis’s rising stars, but Shelton will just have to wait to get another chance.

The post Shang upsets Shelton in two sets at the Atlanta Open appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta .