Mumbai: Since April, Hyeon Chung has spent most of his time playing tennis on the Futures tour. It is the lowest level of professional tennis, often used as a springboard for budding players to launch themselves into the upper divisions.
Several fans carried cardboard cutouts of his face as they watched Korea’s third highest ranked singles player take to the court, just months after he won the deciding rubber against Argentina in the first round of the Qualifiers. Chung commands a certain fan following within his country’s tennis circles. Using that momentum, Chung was up 4-1 in the third, but Nagal clawed his way back into the match.
On Friday, at the Olympic Tennis Court in Seoul, in front of a packed crowd, Chung took a mighty big step in the right direction for both himself and his country, as South Korea is now on the verge of making it to the Davis Cup Finals.
I was able to see that. When I got my first break, he looked really tired, and that gave me the motivation to not give up. Chung came from a set down to beat Sumit Nagal 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a marathon contest lasting three hours and six minutes, doubling Korea’s lead in the second round Davis Cup Qualifier tie. With Nagal serving to stay in the match at 5-6 in the third, Chung got the decisive break that secured the match and gave Korea the 2-0 lead.
Because i could see that my opponent was trying to finish the game earlier, “(In the second set) I felt more comfortable.
“I had to make sure that the fans saw the game that they wanted to see,” world No.549 Chung said after the match. Korea could win the tie on Saturday if they win the doubles match, or any of the reverse singles matches (India will need to win all three to clinch the tie).
