Taiwan wunderkind Tseng Chun-hsin was named 2018 boys’ world champion for his back-to-back Grand Slam titles and commanding lead atop the junior rankings, according to London-based International Tennis Federation Dec. 10.
Tseng became the first athlete from Taiwan to claim the Wimbledon boys’ singles title after defeating Jack Draper from the U.K. in July. The previous month, he upset top-seeded Sebastian Baez from Argentina to win the same crown at Roland-Garros in Paris.
The 17-year-old finished the season on top of the ITF Juniors Rankings with a combined score of 3,857.5 points, more than 1,300 points ahead of second-placed Hugo Gaston of France.
According to the ITF, Tseng said that ending the season as world No. 1 has given him confidence as he transitions to the professional game. His main goals heading into 2019 are to train well and become mentally and physically stronger, he added.
Tseng’s prowess on clay was evident at the boy’s French Open tournament as he navigated the competition without losing a single set, the ITF said, adding that his breakthrough triumph at Roland-Garros is a sign of things to come.
In addition to his dominance in the junior game, Tseng also flexed his muscles on the professional circuit this year with wins at the Vietnam F1 Futures, Portugal F9 Futures and Chinese Taipei F2 Futures. The New Taipei City native is the second Taiwan player to win the boys’ world champion title after Yang Tsung-hua in 2008. (SFC-E)
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