Rising-star Hyeon Chung endured a marathon opening match at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships by battling past Victor Estrella Burgos 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-0.
The 19-year-old was eager to get the win in Houston after suffering back-to-back opening round losses in Indian Wells and Miami. Facing Estrella Burgos, who earlier this year won the ATP Quito Open at the age of 35, Chung won 65% of his total service points.
Chung was on course for a straight sets victory after working his way to match point at 6-4, 5-4, before his opponent staged an impressive comeback to win the second set. Despite the second set blip, Chung regained his dominance in the match by winning six consecutive games, without facing a break point, to move to the second round.
Happy to pick up two wins today at my first clay court tournament of the year, the US Men’s Clay Court Championship. Looking forward to the next rounds!
Posted by Hyeon Chung on Monday, April 4, 2016
The marathon encounter featuring Chung was one of three epic clashes to happen on the first day of competition in Houston. Denis Kudla, who recently defeated Chung in Miami, was forced to dig deep against German qualifier Mischa Zverev. Aided by 14 aces, the world No.59 outlasted Zverev 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(2), during a match which lasted a minute over the two-and-a-half-hour mark.
The tough win has earned Kudla a meeting with top seed John Isner in what will be their second meeting on the ATP Tour. Their first encounter was at the 2015 Atlanta Open where Isner won a close three-setter.
Finally, Juan Monaco continued his comeback from injury with a 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4, win against Austria’s Gerald Melzer. The former world No.10 returned to action in February after missing six months of the tour due to a wrist injury. Monaco will face second seed Benoit Paire in the last sixteen.
