Atlanta
Thompson ‘shows fight’ to knock out Shang and reach the finals in Atlanta
The Sydney native meets either Nishioka or Rinderknech in the title match
July 27, 2024
Nick Grace/Atlanta Open
Jordan Thompson defeated Shang Juncheng after two hours, 21 minutes in Atlanta.
By ATP staff
Jordan Thompson advanced to the fourth major final of his career on Saturday at the Atlanta Open, defeating #NextGenATP 19-year-old Shang Juncheng 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
Should the Australian go ahead and claim his second tour-level title – after his victory in Los Cabos in February – the 30-year-old will break into the Top 30 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time in his career.
“I worked really well today. I only broke once, I got caught in a couple of games. I felt like my serve really kept me in it,” said Thompson, who hit 13 aces and made 75 percent of her forehands, compared to Shang’s 61 percent, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
The fourth seed found great success when serving in Shang’s body, which made it difficult for the left to attack early in meetings. Thompson was solid from the baseline throughout the two-hour, 21-minute game, transitioning easily from defense to attack and remaining a consistent player in the latter stages of the game.
The Sydney native yesterday survived the longest match in Atlanta tournament history, a three hour and three minute marathon against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Despite a short recovery, Thompson quickly bounced back to avenge this year’s Indian Wells loss to Shang and level their Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 1-1.
“I don’t know how I recovered yesterday, but I showed some fight,” said Thompson.
The Aussie will face either Yoshihito Nishioka or Arthur Rinderknech in Sunday’s final.
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