Ace Kwon Soon-woo (61st place, Dangjin City Hall), who led Korean men’s tennis to the Davis Cup Finals (Round of 16), a national competition for two years in a row, said after defeating the ‘formidable enemy’ Belgium on the 5th, “Last year, for the 안전놀이터 first time (to the finals) I’ve been there, but when I actually ran, there were many things I lacked, but I also gained the confidence that I can do it. What I felt today is that after the round of 16, the quarterfinals and semifinals are not impossible,” he said.
In the midst of Kwon Soon-woo’s firm commitment to the finals group stage starting in September, it is also regrettable that what if there is one more singles ace to pair with Kwon Soon-woo, who has reached the peak. In the Davis Cup, where 3 out of 5 matches must be won to win, 4 singles and 1 doubles match. The importance of singles with 4 wins or more is greater. Objectively, it is true that Korea’s power is weak in the Finals, where the world’s top 16 compete. However, if you raise the winning rate in singles, you can expect a surprise at the Davis Cup. This is the point where the name of Jung Hyun, who played an active role as the national team ace before Kwon Soon-woo, comes to mind.
Chung Hyun wrote records such as the best performance in a major tournament in Korean tennis history (2018 Australian Open semifinals) and the highest tour ranking (19th). It is not unreasonable to think that if he, who was expected to be a player close to the top 10, had played in the national team along with Kwon Soon-woo, they would have become a duo that led the peak of Korean tennis while stably maintaining their position in the ‘World’s Round of 16’.
Tennis officials also said at the scene of the festival, “If there was even Jung Hyun… ” they said in one voice. If healthy, it is also attractive that both players are in their mid-20s.
However, Chung Hyeon’s prime was short-lived due to a chronic back injury. After a hiatus of about two years, he participated in the ATP Tour Korea Open (doubles) held in Seoul last October, but is recovering from an injury again. At a recent event, Jung Hyun revealed the current status of undergoing rehabilitation training in Germany for a month. Realistically, even if Chung-hyeon returns to the court in good health, it is not easy to expect him to perform as well as before.
In Korean tennis, the player base is not so thick that new tour-level players are coming out right away. The national team formed a team only with singles Kwon Soon-woo, Hong Seong-chan (237th, Sejong City Hall), doubles Song Min-gyu (doubles 147th, KDB Industrial Bank)-Nam Ji-seong (doubles 152nd, Sejong City Hall) without backup players during the match against Belgium. . For now, it seems important to enhance the competitiveness of Hong Seong-chan, who defeated Berris (115th), the Belgian landlord, in 5 singles games along with reinforcement of singles backup until September.