Chung Hyeon fights hard but exits in 1st round

Chung Hyeon returns a ball to Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France during the men’s singles first round match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Monday. / AP-Yonhap

By Nam Hyun-woo

Korean tennis star Chung Hyeon’s dreams of Grand Slam glory ended Tuesday as he crashed out of Wimbledon after a loss to Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France in the first round.

In 3 hours and 10 minutes of intense competition, the first Korean to play at a Grand Slam event since Lee Hyung-taik at the U.S. Open in 2008, fought hard against the 151st-ranked Frenchman but suffered a 2-3 (6-1, 2-6, 6-3, 2-6, 8-10) defeat.

“I think I was obsessed with winning and ended up playing too defensively,” Chung told Yonhap News Agency. “Before the match, I thought, ‘I will play a game without regret,’ but I allowed a come-from-behind victory for my opponent.”

In their previous encounter at the Australian Open singles qualifier in January, Chung prevailed 2-0 (6-4, 6-2) and it seemed he would continue his momentum at the All England Club after clinching the first set 6-1.

After they recorded one set apiece in the second and third sets, the two tested each other in the fourth set, which Herbert ultimately won after eighth consecutive deuces.

In the fifth set, Chung seemed closer to victory as Herbert faltered, but the Frenchman recovered well, before going on to win the next two games.

Yoon Yong-il, Chung’s coach, said, “Chung seemed more nervous than usual and missed many chances.”

Though Chung is ranked 79th, the more experienced 24-year-old Herbert dominated Chung, making 23 service aces, while Chung only made eight.

Along with 29,000 pounds in prize money, Chung said he learned a lesson that the senior event is far different from the junior event. Chung was the runner-up of the 2013 Wimbledon Boy's Singles. Chung will return to Korea on Wednesday to compete at the Gwangju Universiade next month.

On the other courts, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, who are No. 1 in the men’s and women’s rankings, respectively, both had winning starts.

Djokovic beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 3-0 (6-4, 6-4, 6-4) and Williams cruised past Russian qualifier Margarita Gasparyan 2-0 (6-4, 6-1) to advance to the second round.

Asian top-ranker, Kei Nishikori, will progress to the next round after a hard fought 3-2 (6-3, 6(4)-7, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3) win over Italy’s Simone Bolelli.