Hyeon Chung became the first South Korean to reach a grand slam Quarter-Final after he stunned six time Australian Open Champion Novak Djokovic, 7-6(4) 7-5 7-6(3).
The first set saw Djokovic get off to the worst possible start as a number of double faults and unforced errors from the Serbian gave Chung a 4-0 lead. The South Korean’s aggressive backhands were causing the former world number one some early trouble in the opening set. However it was the 14th seed’s turn to apply the pressure and Chung faltered at the key moments as Djokovic reclaimed the double break back for 5-5. Despite Novak’s best efforts the South Korean youngster played the bigger points better as he grabbed the opening set 7-4 in the tiebreaker.
The world number 58 continued his momentum into the second set as he broke straight away and headed into a 3-0 lead. However like the first set the Serbian came back as he used his sensational returns to force the errors out of Chung to win four games in a row. As Djokovic was struggling with the pain in his elbow, the South Korean took full advantage as he moved the Serbian from side to side. Chung broke in the 12th game to seal a two sets to love lead over Djokovic.
The third set saw some scintillating tennis from both players as the crowd were treated to some high quality shots. Four breaks of serve occurred in the opening five games as both men went after their opponents’ second serves and looked to be aggressive. In the latter stages of the set both men were fired up as they were confident of winning the third set, which reflected into the shots they played. In the end, the final result was a tiebreak which saw Chung win the last four points to seal a historic win.
He becomes the first South Korean to reach a grand slam Quarter-Final and accomplished the achievement in phenomenal circumstances with some outrageous tennis.
After the match he claimed that Novak was his idol, “I’m just trying to copy Novak, he’s my idol. I was just thinking that I was 2-0 up in sets and if I lose I have two more sets (to play). I have two more hours to play. I’m younger than Novak so I didn’t care.”
Chung will now play world number 97 Tennys Sandgren on Wednesday after the American stunned Dominic Thiem in five sets to claim his maiden slam Quarter-Final. Chung and Sandgren met a couple of weeks ago in Auckland where the South Korean won in three sets.
