Chung Hyeon eyes Lee Hyung-taik's records
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Tennis players, from left, Lee Hyung-taik, Lee Duck-hee and Chung Hyeon pose during a press conference at the Olympic Park Tennis Courts in southern Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap
By Kwon Ji-youn
Korean tennis sensation Chung Hyeon hopes to break Lee Hyung-taik’s records and make his mark on the sport.
“I definitely want to break Lee’s career-high rank of 36,” Chung said during a press conference at the Olympic Park Tennis Courts in southern Seoul, Wednesday. “I didn’t expect my rank to climb so fast. It has been amazing.”
Chung’s Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rank soared to 69 after his Busan Open Challenger win on Sunday. He defeated Lukas Lacko of Slovakia 2-0 (6-3, 6-1) to collect 110 ATP ranking points and $14,400 in prize money. He also earned direct entry into the Wimbledon Championships.
On Tuesday, he advanced to the second round of the Seoul Open Challenger with a 2-0 (6-2, 7-6(4)) win over 200th-ranked Jason Jung of the United States.
“It was a difficult win, especially as I was just coming off another Challenger tournament,” Chung said. “And it was very windy. But overcoming this was an important experience.”
Chung, whose final goal is to bring home a Grand Slam trophy, attributed such progress to his experiences at big tournaments like the Miami Tour.
“I competed in the Miami Tour and in a number of Challengers this year, and going up against and sometimes losing to great players from around the world has helped me grow,” he said. “I want to face all the big names at least once at the upcoming tournaments.”
Chung, who hoisted his first Challenger trophy at the Bangkok Open in August 2014, has maintained momentum this year, winning the Burnie Challenger in Australia in February and the St. Joseph’s/Candler Savannah Challenger last month. The victory at the Savannah Challenger made him the second Korean to break into the top 100, following Lee Hyung-taik in 2000.
“Chung is doing extremely well,” said Lee, who joined Chung at the press conference. “But the players in the top ten, with the exception of Kei Nishikori, boast serves that exceed 200 kilometers per hour. He needs to work on his serve points.”
The 39-year old veteran continued, “But he has done well against players like Tomas Berdych. This, and more encounters with top rankers, will give him the confidence he needs to do even better.”
Chung indeed has been working on his serve, which he says has improved a lot over the past year.
“My serve isn’t great, but it has gotten a lot better,” he said. “I’ve been working on it both in and out of tournaments.”
The 19-year-old said he remembers being more nervous about his Busan Open first round match than his final.
“I haven’t played in Korea in front of so many spectators since the Incheon Asian Games,” he said. “It energizes me, and it makes the tournament more enjoyable.”
At the Incheon Asiad, he and Lim Yong-kyu took gold in the men’s doubles.
Lee Duck-hee has also been making appearances at the Seoul Open, which runs through May 17. Lee advanced to the quarterfinals with a walkover Wednesday when Taiwan’s Jimmy Wang withdrew.
“Chung is an amazing tennis player and I want to break all of his records,” Lee said.
Lee has made breakthroughs with tennis ― the 16-year-old was born deaf and can only hear vibrations, so he relies solely on hand gestures for game calls. Though not quite a household name yet, Lee earned his first ATP ranking point in 2013 and in 2014 placed 6th among junior boys in the International Tennis Federation rankings. He is currently ranked at 355.