Marcelo Ríos is no longer Juncheng Shang’s coach: ‘They didn’t give me any reason why we finished’

Ten wins, two losses, a challenger title, the final of another and a leap from position 362 to 195 in the world rankings in just two months of work. It was the balance left by the relationship between Juncheng Shang and Marcelo Rios a company that shook up the world of tennis, but after his participation in the Cary Challenger came to an abrupt end. From Sarasota, the former number one speaks with Jock of this surprise decision, which he learned by chance.

“They didn’t give me any reason why we broke up. They didn’t tell me ‘you don’t like how you You are getting dressed‘. Not one Hey. I learned this from my agent, who told me ‘bad news, you’re not going to continue with Jerry’. I said ‘ah, perfect’. And I was just on the plane from Atlanta to Sarasota. I came out and caught Jerry and his parents off guard and said ‘so are we done?’ They didn’t expect me to know, they thought they would tell me through the agent. And dad says “yes”. I replied ‘la raja, everything is perfect, but I would like to know why we ended’. So the dad starts talking and I don’t understand him or I split up. So I said, ‘Jerry, can you explain it to me?’ And he answers ‘my father says…’ recount.

The response from his now former student left the southpaw with a series of questions. “I think it was a father’s decision. It wasn’t Jerry’s decision. Plus mom and dad hang out all day and it hurts the asshole. I don’t know what they are going to talk about, but I know the mother was very happy. I told Jerry that I didn’t know him very well and my dad that he couldn’t fight all day. He goes out on his own, starts screaming or goes to hell. It is a very difficult culture. It’s super difficult to live with them, I don’t excuse anything, but that they see me and say ‘we did the first four laps, shit’. But the guy made two finals and is 190. So by the results, they can’t wander. But it’s the same. It does not influence me. I’m telling you the truth: I wasn’t having a good time with the old man.” be sincere.

Precisely, the relationship with the father of the tennis player has known several episodes, which he describes below: “I had an argument with him because in a game I said to Jerry, ‘Finished here’, as if to say ‘break it here so you don’t have to serve for the game’ and dad understood everything Hey and got angry. He told me ‘Cut, Marcelo’ and it exploded. I went to talk to him and he told me that I can’t tell him that, that he’s 17, that he’s very young. The father told me ‘it’s because you’re telling him to hurry up, because for you it’s easy, because you’re used to going to Monte Carlo, Rome…’. ‘What the hell are you talking about. I decided to sign this contract to be with you, I knew why I came. I’m the only number one in history to coach the challengers. And if I do it, it’s because I want to help him,” I replied.

“There I told him that, if there was an age to train in one way or another, because I hear that at 19 or 20 he is among the 10 best in the world, like everyone else, and for that he needs to remove the chucha. He plays very easily, but he doesn’t get the chucha. For me, a professional trains two and a half hours in the morning and two and a half hours in the afternoon, which is more physical. Two hours later, he wakes up at noon… They have a different culture. Any pain we stop, the week the father had the Covid we couldn’t train. The dude take five steps forward and 10″ back he adds.

Another complicating factor was how they were related. “Communication with him was very bad, since he didn’t talk much and everything I said to him, he replied ‘yes, yes, yes’. And what you want, when you have someone, is for them to tell you the things they want to train, what bothers them or what doesn’t suit them. Here, there was no communication. Either because of the respect he had for me, or because he is like that. Nobody said anything. So she could never know what he was thinking or what he really wanted. So, it becomes super difficult to train someone if there is no communication” Mint.

Although they both live in the United States, their cultural background was a complex obstacle. “The father claimed that I was very demanding, that we South Americans are a very different culture, that we are guys who go to the front. That he is not used to that. So I I said to my father: ‘Let’s do something. You are the coach and I am going home”. I will train him like they trained me. And if at 17 he has to screw himself, which everyone his age does today, he has to do it. Alcaraz is number one at 19. I told him that I was not going to compromise my way of training. ‘Not because you pay me a lot of money, we will form the hour that I wanted ‘. And I told Jerry ‘you’re 190 means nothing to me. I want you to be in the top ten, to win Grand Slam tournaments. That’s what I’m aiming for, not two challengers. So it was a lot of pressure for them, that’s what they make me understand, because there was no response…”.

“I asked Jerry if he liked tennis, and he said ‘yes’. ‘But do you like watching it or do you like what’s behind it?’ And he asks me what’s behind it, and I answer that it’s suffering, pain, cramps, physical preparation… He answers yes, but making me understand that he does not know this world and does not want to know it. And it’s the only way. I was telling you that I had asked for training videos from Moyá de Nadal or even from Alcaraz, so that he could see their attitude. Jerry, no. He remains motionless, watching the dots scroll by. I have no explanation. I think that’s why” He insists.

It also stops the influence of the family on the tennis player. “Martin (Alund, assistant coach) can’t believe it. He told me he was the crack with me”, he says. And he affirms that he sees a return as unlikely: “I don’t think I’ll be back. The dads inside the court are terrifying. They do everything to him, he doesn’t do anything, he thinks. And the worst part is he speaks in Chinese and I don’t understand him not at all. Suddenly she puts it down, because it’s understandable when they shout. I said to my father ‘I’m not ready for this Hey , that you come out of yourself. I have the same name and I’m not up for a show every time Jerry plays.”

There are several example requirements. The most recent, last week, when after passing the first round of the Cary Challenger, Ríos did not send him to rest. “He played badly, after the match I told him that we were going to practice shooting. ‘Who says to me. “Yes, to practice”. I made him practice for an hour, then his father asked me how he took him to training after the game, so I’m not going to trade my way of training to do it wrong” accurate.

In the next round, Shang lost and made a racket by hitting the referee’s chair with his racket, which he also insulted. “I didn’t realize it, because I was already leaving. I saw it later in a video. Something happened in the game with Thompson that influenced him. I have nothing to do with it. I never knew why it was so fucked up. It must have been something the old man said to him, because he spoke to him in Chinese… I told Jerry that we’ll talk on Saturday, more calmly. Now I was going to tell him that we were training like crazy, because the first week we were amazing, but he needed us to train at least five hours a day. Because we wouldn’t go anywhere that way.” account.

This match against the Australian, whom he had beaten in Lexington, rightly highlighted all the shortcomings. “Here I am the co-pilot and I am not the co-pilot. I told Jerry that “I can help you with all the shots, but the one who enters the field is you and you don’t show that mentality”. The other day he was 2-0 in the third and they broke him and he sent everything to the chucha. These game sheets must show that he is upset. Then I asked him if there was anything bothering him and he said it was fine, but these shades they don’t go straight. And that’s why I went to the airport.” revealed.

Marcelo Ríos tells how the goodbye went. “I said to him: ‘Jerry, I wish you the best. You are playing very well, but you miss him a lot. You have a lot to learn. Good luck for the future…’. Anything you need, call -me… “. And note: “I think he didn’t want to, but here it’s a decision of the parents and he has nothing to say.”

His conclusions on this brief but successful experience are positive. “I feel calm, because I helped him. Going from 380 to 190 is a big step, and if they want a dude No more assholes next door, perfect. But I’m not going to compromise. I’m here to be in the top 10, not to be 150 or 200. He is very talented, he plays very well, he has a lot to learn, but he is very stupid. It’s very useful. I told him that we had to train in the afternoon and he didn’t want to, he told me that he had to do some physical training. The asshole is the crack, he has to change that mentality and be a dog on the pitch. If he really took out the chucha, it could be very good” it is said.

Train another player? “The experience I had was not bad, but coaching a guy who is 10 years old in the world doesn’t interest me, because I can’t change anything. Doesn’t catch my attention” he concludes.