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E-mail Xinhua, January 19, 2024
Chinese teenager Shang Juncheng has made history at the Australian Open for the second consecutive year.
Shang beat India's Sumit Nagal 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday night to become the first male tennis player from the Chinese mainland in the Open era (since 1968) to reach the third round at the Australian Open.
It comes one year after Shang in 2023 became the first Chinese male in the current era to win a match in the main singles draw at the tournament.
In front of a large crowd of both Chinese and Indian fans after a rain delay, Shang got off to a slow start and had his serve broken in the first game of the match.
Nagal did not relent after gaining the advantage early and won the opener in 40 minutes, but Shang came out much stronger in the second set, converting his fourth break point opportunity to take a 3-1 lead before going on to win the set and level the match.
The third set went to serve to 5-5, with both players dominant on their own serve until Nagal faltered and Shang capitalized to take a 6-5 lead and serve out the set with three consecutive winners.
The 18-year-old Chinese player capped off his comeback victory with a powerful serve, sealing a second straight win from a set down after beating America's Mackenzie McDonald in five sets in the first round.
Shang will play second seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the third round.
