Teenager Jerry Shang is through to the Atlanta semifinals after coming out of qualifying to get himself into the main draw. Standing in Shang’s way of the championship match is No. 4 seed Jordan Thompson.
(Q) Jerry Shang vs. (4) Jordan Thompson
Shang is only 19 years old, but amazingly he will already be going up against Thompson for the fourth time in his career on Saturday in the Atlanta Open semifinals. The head-to-head series stands at 2-1 in favor of Shang, who most recently crushed the veteran Aussie 6-2, 6-3 at the Indian Wells Masters this spring. They split a pair of 2022 Challenger encounters, both also on outdoor hard courts; Shang cruised 7-5, 6-4 in Granby before Thompson scored a 7-6(4), 6-7(10), 6-2 victory in Cary.
Their next showdown sets up nicely for Shang, at least on paper. The world No. 89 from China has built up a ton of momentum in Atlanta with five wins–two in qualifying followed by main-draw defeats of Andres Martin, Ben Shelton, and Max Purcell. Despite the workload, Shang should have more left in the tank than his opponent. Thompson played the longest match in Atlanta history on Friday and did so in searing heat, outlasting Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 in three hours and three minutes. The 30-year-old predictably withdrew from the doubles quarterfinals with Purcell late on Friday night. Even if Thompson recovers well, this is a match that will be on Shang’s racket.
Pick: Shang in 2
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The tournament for big servers, is now dominated by counterpunchers
Because its slower apparently . I hope Shelton does better next week.
Gutsy win by Jordan….but he’ll be tired today….Shang in 2.