Hong Kong Tennis Open: city always feels like ‘dream start’ to season, China’s Shang says

Jerry Shang Juncheng knocked out fifth seed Lorenzo Sonego on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open for the third straight year, saying he always has a “dream start” in the city.

Playing the world No 39 Italian for the first time, Shang won 6-3, 6-4 in little more than 80 minutes on centre court at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium.

The Chinese wild card broke Sonego late in the first set and early in the second, holding all his own service games.

The straight-sets win sets up a last-eight encounter with either second seed Alexander Bublik or the Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp.

“I’ve now played in Hong Kong for three years in a row, and every year I feel I always have a dream start in this city,” Shang said. “I think Sonego is a really tough opponent, very explosive and fast on the ball, and his ranking says it all.

“So playing this well and winning in two sets was something I didn’t really expect. Overall it went smoothly, but there were still moments when I faced break points and chances for both of us to take the lead.”