Korean-American Kevin Kim Upsets Ferrero

Korean-American Kevin Kim (143rd ranked, U.S.A.) defeated the former world top-ranked Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain at the ATP China Open Tour (total prize: $500,000).

During the event held in Beijing on Thursday, Kevin Kim won the first round match against the second seed Ferrero 2-0 (6-4, 6-4).

Kim will advance to the quarterfinals to play against Russia’s Marat Safin (fifth seed).

Kevin Kim, who was born in Torrance, California, U.S.A., made his debut in professional tennis back in 1997 when he was 19. However, he was unsuccessful in winning any ATP titles.

On September 8, Kim was eliminated from the Samsung Securities International Challenger Tennis Championships held in Seoul after losing to Chun Oong-sun (SMI Academy) in the first round 0-2 (3-6, 5-7).

The tournament’s top seed and also a former world No.1 ranked Carlos Moya (Spain) failed to advance to the second round after losing to Jo-Wilfred Tsonga (rank 209, France) 0-2 (6-7, 3-6). Tsonga will play against Lee Hyung-taik (Samsung Securities) in the quarterfinals.

Tennis fans interpreted the failure for the number one and two seeds to advance to the second round as them “getting ready for the Davis Cup semifinals held in France next week.”

However after the match against Kim, Ferrero said, “I had a good start when we were tied 4-4, but after losing the first set I lost control. Kevin did better than I did today.”

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com