Seoul Open runner-up sets Grand Slam goal
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Jang Su-jeong competes at the International Tennis Federation Yonex Open in Karuizawa, Japan, in this May 25, 2014, photo. / Korea Times
By Kwon Ji-youn
Sixth-seeded Jang Su-jeong was knocked out of the Hong Kong Open Monday after a 0-2 (3-6, 1-6) loss to Taiwanese Ya-Hsuan Lee, but this is nothing compared with the slump she experienced last year when she was humbled in first-round matches for nine weeks straight.
“That really shook my confidence, and it was difficult to recover,” Jang, 20, said in a recent interview with The Korea Times. “From then on, it became imperative that I train as much mentally as I do physically, especially ahead of important matches.”
Jang, 212th in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) singles rankings, is Korea’s highest-ranking female tennis player. Lee So-ra sits at 274th, and rival and friend Han Na-lae is 277th.
“This may be what makes our achievements meaningful, that so few athletes from Korea are taking up the challenge,” Jang said. “But I do wish more would try it out.”
Jang began tennis as a young girl, intrigued by the sport when she followed her parents to courts to watch them in friendly rallies. She made her professional debut in 2012 and has since been accompanying Chung Hyeon on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour, including the Wimbledon Championships in June. She was last in, and crashed out of the preliminaries following a 0-2 (4-6, 6-7 (5)) loss to Yi-Fan Xu of China.
“It was nothing like the Challenger championships that I’m used to,” she said. “As a Grand Slam tournament, the competition was more than fierce at Wimbledon. I guess that’s natural.”
But more memorable than Wimbledon for Jang is the Seoul Open Challenger a month earlier.
“My win against Belgian An-Sophie Mestach was especially meaningful,” she said. “At the same tournament last year, she won. This year, I won and made the finals.” She finished the tournament runner-up after a defeat to Riko Sawayanagi of Japan.
Jang said she is well aware of her strengths and weaknesses on the court.
“I lead my opponent and my drive volley is strong,” she said. “But I need to think flexibly when I’m out there, and I need to trust my plays no matter what the situation comes to.”
Jang, whose goal is to make a Grand Slam semifinal, picked Swiss Roger Federer as her role model, but rumor has it she has become close to Chung, who is a year her junior.
“We have a lot in common and we understand each others’ hardships,” she said. “We support each other.”