Do not go gentle into that good night, old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light, though wise men at their end know dark is right, because their words had forked no lightning they, do not go gentle into that good night.
Chung Hyeon fails to end prolonged slump
South Korean tennis player Chung Hyeon hits the ball during a French Open qualification game against Renzo Olivo at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, Wednesday. / Captured from French Open website
By Jhoo Dong-chan
By Jhoo Dong-chan
South Korean tennis star Chung Hyeon was defeated in a French Open qualification game against Argentinean player Renzo Olivo at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, Wednesday, failing to get out of his prolonged slump.
The 24-year-old clinched his first victory this year against French wild card Baptiste Crepatte 2-0 the previous day, advancing to face Olivo who he beat 3-0 in the first round of the Australian Open three years ago.
The Argentinean star was a tricky opponent for Chung as he has proven his quality on clay courts throughout his career. Olivo won the clay-court Italian ATP Tour Challenger last year and shut out Chung that day.
Chung was off to a shaky start by conceding two service breaks in the first set. The South Korean later managed to tie the set 6-6, but failed to win the tie break.
He also failed to demonstrate a steady performance in his service game in the second set. Chung ended up conceding the set 2-6 to lose the match.
The South Korean gave up 11 double faults with 38 errors on the day ― Olivo, in the meantime, conceded only four double faults throughout the match.
Chung is currently the second-highest-ranked South Korean and also the 2017 Next Gen Finals champion.
As an unseeded player, he became the first Korean to reach a Grand Slam semifinal at the 2018 Australian Open.
Chung started suffering a slump after struggling with injury in 2019. He fell outside of the top 150 from a career-high ranking of 19. He returned at the 2019 Chengdu Challenger, but failed to deliver a strong performance.