On July 1st, the first round of the 2024 Wimbledon Men’s Singles competition took place, with Chinese youngster Shang Juncheng defeating qualifier Cristian Garin in straight sets 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. This marked Shang’s first main draw win at Wimbledon and made him the first male player from mainland China in the Open Era to secure a victory in the tournament’s main event.
Shang earned direct entry into this year’s Wimbledon based on his ranking. He had a strong lead-up to the tournament, reaching the quarterfinals at the ATP Eastbourne event after coming through the qualifiers. In his match against Garin, Shang maintained control throughout, securing the first set 7-5 with a late surge. In the second set, he continued his momentum, breaking early and closing out the set 6-4. The third set saw Shang break in the seventh game. Despite facing five break points in his service game to close out the match, he managed to save them all and triumphed 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.
Shang will now face the tournament’s 10th seed, Grigor Dimitrov, who advanced to the second round after defeating Laslo Djere 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in an earlier match.