A new half for Shang

Will one of the crowd favorites continue his run against the experienced Lorenzo Sonego?

There were legitimate doubts about Shang’s level at the start of the season, but he was very reassuring right from his opening match against Comesana, who is never easy to handle.

No discomfort in his foot, real pleasure for him to play on these Hong Kong courts that he loves, and conditions that seem to suit him perfectly. His forehand, his true number one weapon, did a huge amount of damage: everything is looking good.

Sonego’s first round was more sluggish against a still somewhat raw Sakamoto. Admittedly, the Italian is coming off an excellent and unexpected run at the 2025 Australian Open, but the rest of the season has been less impressive, and I remain quite skeptical about his effectiveness in this type of conditions. He often tends to rush things, lacking precision when the pace picks up.

In terms of match-up, the advantage seems quite clear to me for Shang. As a left-hander, he’ll be able to regularly target Sonego’s backhand, which remains his main weak spot. Both players like to play on the front foot, but Shang seems superior to me in managing the tempo and calibrating his attacks. Add to that the support of the crowd, a non-negligible factor here.