Junior stars Shang and Marcinko crowned ITF World Champions
Not content with finishing the season as junior world No. 1s and scooping the accolade of ITF World Champions, China’s Juncheng Shang and Petra Marcinko of Croatia have also made history.
Shang is the first player from China to be crowned an ITF World Champion in any category, while the same would apply to Marcinko but for Croatian duo Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic claiming this year’s men’s doubles award.
Nevertheless, the 16-year-old is the first junior from her nation to be crowned an ITF World Champion, which is just reward for a remarkable late-season charge that saw her pip all would-be rivals to the coveted No. 1 spot.
“I didn’t know that I am the first Croatian junior player to be an ITF World Champion,” said Marcinko.
“Wow, that makes me even more proud. Of course, it brings more expectation and responsibility, but I think I will be able to handle it in future. I believe in hard work and that hard work always pays off.
“It has been a great and unforgettable year for me. My team and I don’t make specific plans about ranking achievements, but the plan for 2021 in my head was to be a top 10 junior and get some experience from ITF professional tournaments.
“This is above my expectations, and I feel really happy and proud of what my team and I have done this year. I want to thank every member of my team and of course my family, without them this would be impossible.
“Last but not least, thank you to the ITF for giving me this prestigious title, I am really honoured. The main goal now is to work hard and improve my game. How far it will take me, we will see.”
In many respects, Shang’s triumph was more clearcut than Marcinko’s. The 16-year-old topped the podium at JA Criciuma in March, produced solid performances at the Junior Grand Slams throughout the year and hit the summit of the boys’ rankings in July.
He also showed his class by making a stylish start to his professional career by claiming three ITF World Tennis Tour titles – at M15 Fayetteville, M15 Naples and M15 Vero Beach – in quick succession during a highly-profitable September and October.
“I’m delighted to finish the year as the junior world No. 1 and be crowned ITF World Champion,” said Shang.
“It’s been a very fun and special year for me, not just with the results but also the experiences I’ve had at the Junior Grand Slams.
“I was also very grateful to play the South America tournaments at the beginning of the year because it was so hard for all the players to play tournaments in 2020. It was great to get some matches and have the chance to compete.
“The most important title for me was at JA Criciuma in Brazil, where my physical condition wasn’t 100%, but during the tournament I learned how to win matches in a shorter amount of time. I’ve learned so much this year.”
In contrast to Shang, Marcinko very much took her ITF World Champion bid to the wire, jumping nine places to No. 1 spot in the rankings with twin success at the prestigious Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships.
In the final tournament on the junior calendar, she defeated two potential competitors for the accolade in the singles draw, dispatching Linda Fruhvirtova in the quarter-finals before toppling doubles partner Diana Shnaider in the title match.
Marcinko’s surge was boosted further by her victory alongside Shnaider in the doubles as the pair overpowered the Fruhvirtova sisters, Linda and Brenda, just as they had a week earlier at J1 Bradenton.
Glory at the Orange Bowl represented a second Grade A title of the campaign in singles and doubles having also prevailed in both disciplines at JA Cape Town in October.
It was her sixth tournament win in 2021 across singles and doubles after also conquering all before her at J1 Lambare in February, while the teenager’s best showing at a Junior Grand Slam was her quarter-final finish at September’s US Open Junior Tennis Championships.
Likewise, Shang, who is known as Jerry to his English-speaking friends, also claimed three boys’ singles titles in 2021. The standout was his triumph at JA Criciuma, while he tasted victory at J1 Salinas and JB1 San Diego – all three by the end of April.
While a more concerted focus was placed upon professional events as the year unfolded, Shang continued to reach the business end of Junior Grand Slams, although a place within the winners’ enclosure proved elusive.
He edged closer and closer but to no avail, contesting the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, the last-four at Wimbledon and then the US Open final where he succumbed to Spain’s Daniel Rincon. So close but so far in what has undoubtedly been an impressive season.
Indeed, it has been a stirring campaign for both Shang and Marcinko, who will forever have year-end junior world No. 1 and ITF World Champion etched on their career CVs. Congratulations to both.