(Reuters) – China’s Shang Juncheng said his competitive spirit was down to having professional athletes as parents and the 19-year-old is keen to showcase the lessons he has learned from their careers at this week’s Next Gen ATP Finals in Saudi Arabia.
Shang, the son of former China soccer international Shang Yi and former table tennis world champion Wu Na, enjoyed a breakthrough 2024 and climbed to a career-high world ranking of 47 in October after winning his maiden title in Chengdu.
He will now look to cap off the season with another trophy at the Dec. 18-22 tournament, which features eight of the game’s brightest players aged 20 and under competing in Jeddah.
“I think the mentality is the same, that you go on court, you try 100%,” Shang said about the influence of his parents.
“That’s what they’ve been telling me all the time: You’ve got to be a competitor, but at the same time you’ve got to know your values – sometimes winning isn’t the most important thing. (It’s) More to enjoy the competition and the people watching you.
“I think at the end of the day it’s (the people) who are next to you that’s the most important thing.”
This year’s edition of the hardcourt event is the second to be held in Saudi Arabia and will hand out $2.05 million in prize money overall but perhaps more importantly, serve as a barometer to identify the game’s next big stars.
Past winners of the tournament which was held in Milan include Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, both of whom have had success at the Grand Slam stage in the last few years.
The tournament also features a number of innovations, with all singles matches being the best-of-five sets and each set the first to four games.
“This event, they’ve had so many great players in the past and a lot of good champions,” said Shang, who takes on Frenchman Luca Van Assche on Wednesday.
“So coming here is really special, especially coming to Jeddah. Maybe a couple of years ago there wasn’t too much tennis action going on, but now we have the WTA Finals (in Riyadh) and the Next Gen Finals here, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru)
