Shang breaks new ground with Shelton stunner in Atlanta

For the second straight year, 19-year-old Shang Juncheng has knocked home favourite Ben Shelton out of the Atlanta Open. The Chinese #NextGenATP star earned a 7-6(6), 6-4 win on Thursday night, beating the World No. 14 for his biggest career win by PIF ATP Ranking.

Shang's second Top 20 win (2-7) saw him through to his third tour-level quarter-final, with the previous two coming this season in Hong Kong and Eastbourne. He has moved up seven places to No. 82 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings this week, setting himself up for a new career-high, and also solidified his position in fourth place in the PIF ATP Race To Jeddah.

"It was a really tough match," Shang said after improving to 3-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head against Shelton. "The conditions are completely different from last year. The courts are much slower. But with this crowd, I really enjoy playing here. I don't know what I did to play so well against Ben but he's such an amazing guy, a lot of respect to him."

He later added: "I think I played really well and hopefully I can continue this."

Shang comes in with a bang 💥‼️

Biggest career win for Shang defeating No. 1 seed Shelton 7-6(6) 6-4 @ATLOpenTennis | #AtlantaOpen pic.twitter.com/yq5msniD2f

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 26, 2024

Shang won the opening tie-break after he and Shelton traded breaks from 5-5 in the first set. He did not face a break point in set two. The first Chinese quarter-finalist in Atlanta history, Shang will meet eighth seed Max Purcell on Friday after the Aussie's 6-3, 6-3 win against David Goffin.

Frances Tiafoe returned to the American hard courts with a battling win Thursday, competing in his first match since a five-set Wimbledon thriller against eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.

The third seed earned a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 result against Aslan Karatsev, bringing his strong from across the pond onto home soil. Tiafoe fired 18 aces — including one on match point — and saved three of four break points in the victory, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

"I'm just trying to build on Wimbledon," said Tiafoe, who has recently started working with coach David Witt. "I was not having much fun with my tennis at all for a while there. I had a great time at Wimbledon, I played a great match there in the third round. I just kind of want to build on that and put on a show for you guys."

Now 16-15 on the year, Tiafoe entered the U.S. hard-court summer with 30 wins last season, reaching a career-high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 10 in June. He entered Atlanta at World No. 29 this week, with his best result of 2024 a final appearance in Houston.

Next up for the American will be Yoshihito Nishioka in Friday's quarter-finals. The Japanese star beat home favourite Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-4 to improve to 5-2 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against the former college star at UCLA.

Fourth seed Jordan Thompson also advanced with a 6-2, 7-5 result against French lucky loser Harold Mayot. The Aussie will meet fifth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the quarters after the Spaniard's 7-5, 7-5 win against American Reilly Opelka.