Hong Kong Tennis Open: Frances Tiafoe expects strong support for China’s Shang Juncheng in quarter-final
- Tiafoe says the Victoria Park spectators, who have given Shang vocal backing, ‘should be behind him, and I hope they are’
- ‘Total respect to him for beating high-calibre players, and for the way he has done it,’ the American says of the teenager’s progress
Frances Tiafoe said he had “total respect” for Shang Juncheng, after the American No 3 seed beat Miomir Kecmanovic to set up an intriguing Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open quarter-final with the latest rising star of Chinese tennis.
American Tiafoe made light of his nine-week break from competitive action, winning 6-3, 7-6 against the Serb on Wednesday evening in a match that featured only one break of serve.
The 25-year-old was on court directly after Shang’s dramatic 3½-hour, three-set victory over Botic van de Zandschulp, and is now poised for a battle with a player he knocked out of the Australian Open 12 months ago.
“Shout out to Jerry, total respect to him for beating high-calibre players, and for the way he has done it,” Tiafoe said, referring to Shang by his nickname.
“It is not easy to win these matches against physical guys at 18 years old. We are going to have a good match, I am going to make him run and push him.
“I like the kid a lot, and we get along really well. I always tell him, ‘Let me get these wins now, so when you are winning grand slams, I can say I beat you.’”
Tiafoe reached the world’s top 10 last year, but is currently ranked 16, and won only three matches following his US Open quarter-final exit last August.
He was “happy the crowd were excited for me” on Wednesday, but expected Shang to receive the backing of Centre Court for the pair’s meeting.
“They should be behind him, and I hope they are,” Tiafoe said. “It was tough preparation today, Jerry played a marathon match, so I warmed up four or five times and ended up playing a night match.
“I did a great job, and am happy with my performance.”
Karen Khachanov, the world No 15 from Russia, suffered a shock second-round defeat late on Wednesday to 69th-ranked Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland, who won 7-6, 2-6, 6-2.
World No 5 Andrey Rublev, meanwhile, will belatedly begin his tournament against Liam Broady on Thursday evening.
The top seed received a bye into round two and, apart from playing two doubles matches with compatriot Khachanov, has been twiddling his thumbs all week.
Coleman Wong elated at ‘special’ night despite defeat at Hong Kong Tennis Open
Rublev is third on Centre Court against Broady, who is in the groove after coming through three rounds, including qualifiers, to reach this stage. The Russian will need to win matches on four straight days to claim the title in Sunday’s final.
The veteran Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2019, opens proceedings against No 4 seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina.
They will be followed on court by Marc Andrea-Huesler, who came through qualifying, and exciting French teenager Arthur Fils. Jan-Lennard Struff and Sebastian Ofner play their second-round match on Court 1 at 2pm.
