Chung Hyeon advances to ATP Rogers’ Cup finals

Chung Hyeon (19), the rising star in Korean tennis, has secured a berth to advance to the ATP Tour 1,000 Series, the highest level of championships after the major championships.

In the final of the qualifying games at the Rogers’ Cup held in Montreal, Canada on Sunday, Chung Hyeon, ranking 77th in the world, crushed 2-0 (6-2, 6-1) Alejandro González (Colombia), ranking 116th in the world. At the game held on hard court, Chung garnered a high first-serve scoring ratio of 95 percent, including five serve aces, and sealed his victory at the 59th minute into the game, displaying the zenith of his performance.

At the championship, whose total purse money amounts to 4.1785 million U.S. dollars, Chung will have secured 12,710 dollars in prize money just for participation in the first round match of the finals.

Chung will play Leonardo Mayer (Argentina), ranking 35th in the world, in the first round match of the finals. Chung had lost to Mayer this year on grass court at the Nottingham Open, but his coach Yoon Yong-il predicts that if he delivers quality serve as he played on Sunday, he has strong chance to win the game.

The championships bring together en masse world leading tennis players, including Novak Djokovic (Serbia), ranking No.1 in the world; Andy Murray (U.K.), ranking third in the world; Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland), ranking fourth; and Kei Nishikori (Japan), ranking fourth in the world. Of the 56 players participating in the event, only Chung, Nishikori, and Lu Yen-hsun (Taiwan) are Asians.

Nishikori achieved his career 10th victory in the City Open of the ATP Tour. Chung has been on the rise at recent competitions held on hard court, including his acquisition of the berth for the ongoing championship on his own in recent weeks, and is expected to display staller performance at the U.S. Open, this season’s final championship that will take place at the end of this month.

kjs0123@donga.com