Do you remember Hyeon Chungsurprise semi-finalist of the 2018 Australian Open? Faller of Novak Djokovic at the time, the South Korean had failed at the gates of the final against the legend Roger Federergiving up after an hour of play. Chung reached the Top 20 despite not having played in any finals on the ATP circuit. In 2017, however, he won the first edition of ATP Next Gen Finals while beating Daniil Medvedev in halves and Andrey Rublev in the final. Since then, the road has been strewn with pitfalls. More than a year after his last match, he made his return to the Future circuit in Japan last September. This Sunday, he won his first trophy in almost six years, in the $25,000 Baliand will return to the Top 1000 on Monday (around 822nd).
Video – Hyeon Chung, unexpected star of the 2018 Australian Open
A single set lost, a victory over Escoffier… the beginnings of a comeback?
What a week the South Korean had on Indonesian soil! Five successes while losing only one set in total, a crushing victory over the headliner Antoine Escoffier and five games dropped per match on average, only three in the final. Monday, Chung should wake up at 822nd step in the ATP rankings. A return to the Top 1,000, which he left in August 2022. The last tournaments, however, had not been fruitful: three victories and six defeats since his return to competition last September. As a reminder, Chung is only 28 years old and can legitimately hope to return to the high level. His last Future title dates back to… 2014!
A career put on hold for almost three years
In September 2020, at age 24, Chung had put Tennis aside after an elimination in the qualifications of Roland-Garrosin the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Two and a half years later, he made his comeback at home, Seoulbut quickly gave up after winning only one match in six tournaments played. At 28, the Suwon native decided to try his luck again. After a clear defeat against the 1925th player in the world at $25,000 Sapporo last Septemberhe finally won a match Takasaki. The rest may be interesting to follow…
