Korea to play Uzbekistan in Davis Cup qualifier

By Baek Byung-yeul

Chung Hyeon makes a return to Grigor Dimitrov during their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Jan. 19. / AP-Yonhap

The Korean men’s national tennis team will clash with Uzbekistan in the regional Davis Cup qualifier in Korea, starting Friday.

The team, led by coach Kim Jae-sik, will play over three days in the first round of the Group 1 Asia/Oceania Zone of the cup at Gimcheon Sports Town Tennis Courts in North Gyeongsang Province, 240 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

The best-of-five competition has four singles and one doubles matches.

The Korean team -- world No. 73 Chung Hyeon, Lee Duck-hee (No. 139), Kwon Soon-woo (No. 308) and Lim Yong-kyu (No. 444) -- aims to move on to the World Group, which features the best 16 teams. The team has reached the round of 16 only three times -- 1981, 1987 and 2007.

The Uzbekistan team includes Denis Istomin (No. 80), Sanjar Fayziev (No. 367), Farrukh Dustov (No. 503) and Djurabeck Karimov (No. 761).

Coach Kim said he is confident of defeating Uzbekistan.

“As the event will take place in our home country, players seem to be ready to go,” Kim told reporters at a press conference in Gimcheon, Tuesday. “Chung and Lee are in peak condition, and Lim and Kwon are also in good shape.”

Although Kim is confident of victory, there are great expectations for Chung, 20, as the Korean ace must defeat Istomin in a singles match. Chung was eliminated from the second round of the Australian Open after a 1-3 loss to No. 15 Grigor Dimitrov two weeks ago, but claimed the SportMaster Tennis Championship on Maui last week.