Hyeon Chung advanced to the quarterfinal round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career Monday with a straight-sets win over six-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic.
Here’s more on the rising 21-year-old, who will face unseeded American Tennys Sandgren for a spot in the final four Wednesday.
The Hyeon Chung File
Age: 21
Height: 6-2
Residence: Suwon, South Korea
Current Rank: 58
Career-High Rank: 44 (September 2017)
Best US Open Finish: 2R (2017)
The Baseline
- Chung defeated world No. 4 Alexander Zverev in the third round of the Australian Open, rallying from two-sets-to-one down to prevail in five sets. In winning 12 of the final 15 games, Chung secured his first victory over a Top-10 player. He was previously 0-for-8. He followed that victory with a win over former world No. 1 Djokovic in the fourth round, his first win over a Grand Slam singles champ.
- Chung captured the first title of his career in November 2017 at the year-ending Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, Italy, defeating Denis Shapovalov and Andrey Rublev en route to the championship.
- Chung broke into the Top 100 in April 2015 and ended that season at No. 51 in the world. He dropped as low as No. 146 in October 2016 but rebounded last summer, as he cracked the Top 50 for the first time in his young career. After finishing 2017 at No. 58, he is set to climb back inside the Top 50. A win over Sandgren would likely see him at a new personal best and challenging for a seed at Roland Garros this spring.
- Prior to this year’s Australian Open, the 21-year-old had only been past the second round at a major once in seven main-draw appearances. He reached the third round at the 2017 French Open, falling to Kei Nishikori in five sets in the Round of 32.
- Chung has been to the second round of the US Open twice in his two trips to New York City. He defeated James Duckworth in his Flushing Meadows main-draw debut in 2015 before losing to Stan Wawrinka in three tiebreak sets. In 2017, Chung defeated Horacio Zeballos in the opening round but lost to John Isner in straight sets in Round 2.
They Said It!
"I'm just looking for Novak, Roger, Rafa. They're all my role model, my idol. I'm just happy to play with Novak again. I'm just honored to see him again on the tour. Today my dreams come true," Chung said in his post-match press conference after his fourth-round win over Djokovic.
