Sun Xinran and Jordan Lee rose to the top this weekend in Chengdu.

Chris OddoOctober 25, 20262 minute read

American Jordan Lee won the boys’ title at the World Tennis Tour Junior Finals on Sunday, battling past Slovenia’s Ziga Sesko, 6-4, 7-5. The 16-year-old joins a list of past champions that includes ATP stars Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune and Brandon Nakashima.

Lee, who won the Wimbledon boys’ singles title as a qualifier in July, capped off another memorable week with victory in Chengdu.

“I just want to say congrats to Ziga and his coach,” he said after the victory. “Amazing week. You know, he beat me in the group stages, so today I tried my best to get the revenge, and I did.”

Lee lost to Sesko in round-robin play but played magnificently in the final. He broke for 6-5 in the second set, clinching a marathon game to take the advantage, then served out the title with poise.

“I think I compete pretty much, I’d like to say, in my mind, I compete better than everyone, or I try to compete better than everyone,” he said. “I think no matter the score, I feel like I’m always in the match, no matter how I’m playing or no matter how I’m feeling.”

Sun Xinran took the girls’ title, defeating Anna Pushkareva 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-1 in a rematch of their previous two finals this year. All three championship encounters have gone three sets.

“I haven’t really processed it yet,” Sun said. “I’m just so happy, especially because it’s in China. Winning this title really makes me incredibly happy and excited. I’m also so grateful to all my fans who were cheering me on today.”

Recently, Sun won her first tour-level matches at WTA 100 Beijing.

Sun and Pushkareva have become good friends during their time together on the junior tour, and in a nice moment, Sun took the microphone and praised her friend in English.

“I also want to say something to Anna,” she said. “We played each other four times this year. I cannot believe it! I hope I don’t see you next year. But you are an amazing player. I like to play with you, and we are really good friends.”

Sun, 16, pulled away in the final set to claim the title on home soil.

“She played extremely well, especially in the second set,” she said. “The way she played in that set was really unbelievable. But I kept telling myself that I couldn’t give up. I had to keep fighting.

“I thought that no matter what happened, I wanted to play my best tennis. I believed in myself, and I believed that I could do it.”