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Lars Hamer

Jerry Shang Juncheng got the defence of his Chengdu Open title off to the best possible start on Wednesday, beating Belgium’s world No 46 Zizou Bergs 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.
The 20-year-old Chinese star has played hardly any tennis this year because of a string of injuries, including surgery on his right foot in March, which has seen his world ranking drop to 138.
Shang’s victory, which he managed in two hours and 10 minutes, was his first return to tennis since pulling out of the opening round of the US Open with a left foot injury last month.
The match was also the former world No 47's first win since he beat France’s Fabian Marozsan 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Bank of China Hong Kong Open in January.
“It’s really great to be back in Chengdu,” Shang said. “I think this is my first win since coming back from injury, so for it to be in Chengdu, I’m really happy.
“Last year, everyone was always supporting me … and I hope it can continue for the rest of the year.”

Although Shang’s victory was helped by Bergs committing 11 unforced errors in the first set, the Beijing native showed glimpses of his former self, including hitting a spectacular behind-the-back shot that would have been a contender for point of the season, had he not hit the net moments later.
The match’s deciding moment came in the seventh game of the final set, when Shang, already up a break point, saw off Bergs’ triple break point to hold before the match went with serve at Sichuan International Tennis Centre.
And before Shang stepped onto centre court, his countryman and world No 304 Zhou Yi came back from a set down to beat Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie, ranked 34th.
Zhou, who was playing in the Futures in June, won 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 in a match that lasted two hours and 44 minutes on the first day of the tournament proper.
The 20-year-old Zhou hit 22 aces and saved six break points on the way to recording the biggest win of his fledgling career.
“I’ve been waiting for a whole year to come back here,” Zhou said. “I did it by myself this time. I’m so happy. I cannot explain it, I’m so happy.
“It’s been a tough year for me, to both get some wins and try to keep my points up, because it’s the first time I’ve got so many points in my life.
“But I feel like mentally I’ve been improving a lot. I feel like I’m not the same as before. I’ve definitely improved; that may be why I had the ability to come through today.”
However, throughout the match, Britain’s No 2 Norrie showed signs he was battling illness.
The 30-year-old had to excuse himself from the court during a sneezing fit in the second set, before going behind the advertising boards, where commentators said “he looked like he was going to be sick”. He was also heard coughing loudly during the third.
But that should not take away from an almost perfect performance from Zhou. In the second set, he landed 81 per cent of his serves and hit four aces in a row to hold to love and take a 4-2 lead before breaking Norrie again for the set.


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Shang gets Chengdu Open title defence off to perfect start, young gun Zhou downs Norrie

Jerry Shang got back to winning ways at the Chengdu Open on Wednesday. Photo: Dickson Lee

China’s Zhou Yi hits a return against Cameron Norrie at Sichuan International Tennis Centre in Chengdu. Photo: Getty Images

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Sport

Tennis

Jerry Shang gets better of Belgium world No 46 Zizou Bergs in first return to court since pulling out of US Open


Jerry Shang gets better of Belgium world No 46 Zizou Bergs in first return to court since pulling out of US Open.


Shang gets Chengdu Open title defence off to perfect start, young gun Zhou downs Norrie

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Jerry Shang gets better of Belgium world No 46 Zizou Bergs in first return to court since pulling out of US Open

Jerry Shang gets better of Belgium world No 46 Zizou Bergs in first return to court since pulling out of US Open