Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin is the first junior athlete since 2004 to win the French Open and Wimbledon boys’ singles crowns in the same season following a 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 triumph over Jack Draper of the U.K. at the latter Grand Slam July 15 in London.
The top-seeded 16-year-old blew away his opponent in the opening set before the Briton fought back in the second to end the Taiwan athlete’s streak of 11 straight sets. Tseng maintained his poise in a tense final frame featuring five breaks of serve, ultimately sealing victory with his ninth ace of the 126-minute encounter.
After the decisive ace, delivered on a second serve, the Taiwan star of the future collapsed to the ground in joy and exhaustion. Tseng described success at Wimbledon as an incredible achievement and a further boost to his confidence after winning at Roland-Garros last month and finishing as runner-up at the Australian Open in January.
The first Taiwan player to claim the Wimbledon boys’ singles title, Tseng expressed humility at the comparison in his post-match interview to tennis great Roger Federer, who won the same title 20 years ago and shares a birthday with the teenager. “I think I would just keep doing my best and keep working hard and hopefully one day I can come back here again” in the professional ranks, he said.
According to Tseng, he plans to compete in the U.S. Open Junior Tennis Championships in September and the Summer Youth Olympics the following month in Buenos Aires before joining the professional circuit next year.
Ranked No. 1 in the International Tennis Federation boys’ junior rankings, Tseng is widely regarded as the most promising talent in Asia. In 2015, he became the first Asian player to win the boys’ singles title at Les Petits As—a leading junior tournament held annually in France for 12-14 year olds. (KWS-E)
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