Cho Yoon-chong’s First Win In Major Game

Cho Yoon-chong (23, Samsung Securities), one of the most famous female tennis players in Korea, realized her dream. She recorded her first win at a major game.

It was the first round of US Open held on August 28 in Flushing Meadow, New York, US. Cho, who passed the preliminaries ranked 106th on the WTA ranking, beat Serna (Spain), for one hour and 12 minutes, 2-0 (6-3, 6-4).

Last year, for the time in her career, Cho made her debut in the grand slam at US Open. But, this year, she did not win a game in Australian Open and French Open. At her fourth trial, she finally passed through the preliminaries. It is the first win at a major game by a Korean female player after Park Sung-hee went through the first round of US Open 4 years ago in 1998.

In a telephone interview, Cho expressed, “I had a hard time in the preliminaries due to bad conditions. But I got the first win in a major game. I feel so good. I think my long strokes and aggressive playing worked. Especially, long strokes seldom allowed dashing to the net.”

Cho got hired by Samsung Securities in 1988 right upon graduation from Andong Women’s High School. But she was suffering from a fatal physical defect. Her upper and lower jaws do not square with each other. Thus, she could not chew food well. Consequently, she could not eat well and, therefore, suffered from lack of physical strength. In the preliminaries of last year’s US Open, she got passed out after the game due to sunstroke. But she has overcome the difficulties with strong spirits and harsh training.

Cho will take on an Argentina’s player Paola, who beat Mary Pierce (France) 2-0 and belongs to the 32nd seed, for the ticket to the round of 32. Paola is good at doubles. Cho, who will face Paola for the first time, said, “She looks very speedy and strokes very fast. I will not aim high. I will just fight confidently as I usually do.”

Chun Mi-ra and Lee Hyung-tak (Both, Samsung Securities), who participated along with Cho, did not make it to the second round. Sukiyama Ai of Japan (19th seed) shut out Chun. (3-6, 3-6) This was Chun’s first participation in a major game. Lee with 81st on WTA’s ranking allowed 19 serve aces to 94th Mardi Fish (USA) and lost the game 1-4 (6-7, 6-4, 3-6, 3-6).

Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati (both USA) passed through the first round without giving out a game. Williams is aiming at her third championship in women’s singles. Martina Hingis (Switzerland) barely beat Irvin (USA) 2-1. Pro-golfer Garcia, who will visit Korea on September 3 to participate in Korean Open, cheered for his girl friend Hingis.

Last year’s champion in the men’s singles Lleyton Hewitt easily advanced to the second round.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com