CHINA OPEN

September 26, 2025

Shang Juncheng

Press Conference

A. CAZAUX/Shang Juncheng

0-6, 7-6, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press conference of Shang Juncheng. We'll go straight to questions in English.

Q. Can you talk your way through the match. What do you think made the difference ultimately? How are you feeling?

SHANG JUNCHENG: Yeah, I think really good match. A lot of positive stuff in the match. I think I played really good today. One of the few matches that I played this year that I can say I gave it all and I was playing good, playing healthy, without any foot pain, without any injuries on the court.

Overall, I mean, congrats to Arthur. He played better than me at the end. I think I had my moments. Played really well first set. Was up a break. Unfortunately the tension playing at home was getting to me.

Again, enjoyed the crowd today. Very disappointing, but I played happy on the court. I think the home crowd meant a lot to me.

Q. How much was it also to do with not having played a lot of matches? When you're up a set and a break the way you were, not being able to close it out because you haven't had enough matches under your belt...

SHANG JUNCHENG: Yeah, I mean, I can make up all the excuses from this year. I think there are many.

I think at the end of the day we're competing on the same court in the same tournament. I think he did better than me today. That's all I'm going to say.

I think I did my part. I tried 100%. I played 100%, which is making me very happy from some standpoint. Again, didn't get the win. It was kind of inevitable 'cause, like you said, not many matches this year under my belt. I'm sure it's going to start to get better.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Chinese.

Q. Unfortunately the match did not go your way. You started very well. Physically I thought you were struggling a little bit. You were saying you felt healthy on court. There's no new injury, right?

SHANG JUNCHENG: No, nothing. In the first set I was playing really well. In the second set I was also ahead for a while. Overall the opponent was playing better. This year I didn't play many matches. Most of the time I was recovering.

Today I was able to complete a match here, two matches in Chengdu. I was feeling very good. These are very positive things I can take.

Unfortunately the match did not go my way.

Q. In the last game of this match, he was serving for the match. The home crowd was cheering for you. Talk about your mentality in the last game regarding the crowd atmosphere.

SHANG JUNCHENG: Yes, indeed, in the last game, I think throughout the last set or last 30 minutes, starting from 3-All or 4-All in the last set, I was feeling the crowd. The crowd's energy was feeding me. I felt I was playing at home. Everyone was supporting me, encouraging me, rooting for me. This is important for a Chinese player because there's home crowd pressure.

I did not hear any negative comments from the crowd, so that was good. I was full of energy on court. That was why I was fighting all the way till the end.

Q. Could you elaborate on the turning point of this match? Was it related to your injuries? Today you were squatting a little bit to relieve the pain in your body. Did you consider retiring from the match?

SHANG JUNCHENG: No, not at all. I was feeling okay throughout the match. Consistent with what I said before, I've been training very well. Not much pain. Also including Chengdu, I was raising my level. On court, off court, physicality-wise, I'm feeling much better now.

For Beijing, I was fully prepared. Also in future matches I would never really consider giving up. I would try to put 100% in. This is something I would always try to tell myself. I want to be positive. As long as I'm on court, it's 100%.

Q. In the last moment of the third set, there was eye contact between you and your father. Any tips he gave you? In your career, what is the role of your father? Was he a strict father or a very kind father?

SHANG JUNCHENG: No injuries at all. I don't know why you keep asking this. I was a little bit tired at the end. I was squatting a little bit.

Q. When you were squatting down, I thought there was some eye contact between you and your father. There was verbal communication, right?

SHANG JUNCHENG: It depends on my team, right? Before you receive, I might look at my team, some positive signal from my team. When you play well, there's some positive messages from my team. One glance doesn't give you that much, right?

Q. A kind father or a very serious father, a stern father?

SHANG JUNCHENG: He's my father as well as, how do I put it, spiritual support I would say, mental support.

Every week you are on the road and away from your home, away from my family and friends, having a parent on my team as a friend to support me, this is very important. This is very important on the tour because I can talk to him about things and he can help me with smaller issues that I cannot deal with. He can give me guidance before the match. We can talk about it.

Sometimes the challenges can be overcome just by talking to someone.