By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, January 23, 2018
World No. 58 Hyeon Chung carved out an entertaining 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over 97th-ranked Tennys Sandgren to charge into the Australian Open semifinals.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Poor eyesight brought Hyeon Chung to tennis—his doctor recommended staring at the color green to help sharpen his vision.
On the blue Rod Laver Arena court, the bespectacled Chung realized the role of major visionary.
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In the first unseeded Australian Open quarterfinal since 1999, Chung carved out an entertaining 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over 97th-ranked Tennys Sandgren to charge into the Australian Open semifinals.
Already the first Korean—man or woman—to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal, the 58th-ranked Chung is the lowest-ranked man to reach the Melbourne final four since an 86th-ranked Marat Safin made the 2004 semifinals.
Chung will face either reigning champion Roger Federer or 20th-ranked Tomas Berdych for a place in Sunday's final.
"Whoever wins, I'm just playing," Chung said. "I don't care."
Playing with patience and calm, the 21-year-old Chung is the youngest Grand Slam semifinalist since a 21-year-old Marin Cilic contested the 2010 Australian Open semifinals.
Contesting his eighth career major, Chung has won eight consecutive sets—the last two sets of a five-set triumph over fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev as well as a straight-sets sweep of six-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic—and has looked completely comfortable doing it.
In a near-flawless opening set, Chung broke for 2-1 and was nearly untouchable on serve tearing through a one-set lead.
‘ Gambling on an ambitious 123 mph second serve ace helped Sandgren worked through a tricky deuce hold in the ninth game.
One way to combat nerves is serve with conviction. Chung gave Sandgren no say in his service games serving 85 percent and winning 18 of 23 points played on his first serve. The Next Gen ATP Finals champ issued a love hold to seal the 38-minute opening set.
The casual way Chung strolls around the court between points contrast with his quick burst off the mark during points. Darting for a drop volley, Chung angled a soft reply. That bit of improvised brilliance helped him break to start the second set.
A crackling 37-shot rally—that included some hammer-blow forehands from the American—ended with Sandren netting a forehand. Chung was winning longer exchanges regularly and opening the court with his lethal backhand down the line to back up the break.
Realizing he wasn’t winning grinding points, Sandgren began swinging with vicious resolve. Chung helped the American bricking a routine volley. A menacing forehand in the corner followed by a flat forehand return helped Sandgren break back in the fourth game.
Cracks in Chung’s game escalated into the eighth game as he dragged a forehand wide gifting the break and a 5-3 lead. Sandgren served for the set, but Chung played lock-down baseline tennis and refused to miss. When the American netted a backhand Chung was back on serve.
Showing the instincts for forward closing both men alternated on the attack in a pulsating tie break. Sandgren strung together a couple of clever backhand volleys for 5-4 and lined up a forehand that would have given him set point but lashed it into the top of the tape. Each time Chung was challenged, he answered driving the ball deeper. Drawing a ballooned forehand for set point, Chung unleashed some heavy hitting eliciting another error for a two-set lead.
Poise amid tiebreak pressure and sharp shot selection has empowered Chung to win all five tiebreaks he’s played in the tournament.
A mentally drained and physically fatigued Sandgren, who had toppled eighth-ranked Stan Wawrinka and fifth-ranked Dominic Thiem en route to his first quarterfinal, continued to battle but couldn’t match Chung’s quickness and consistency. Chung broke for 3-1 then slammed a love hold for 4-1.
Out of options, Sandgren shoveled a drop shot into net to face a match point, but denied it digging through a hold in the eighth game. The world No. 97 withstood three more match points in the following game then slapped a sharp-angled forehand for a second break point.
A 31-shot rally featured more than 10 slice backhands actually elicited giggles from fans before Chung coaxed an error to save break point.
On his fifth match point, Chung went nose-to-nose at net with Sandgren, who somehow blocked a self-preservation volley to save it. On his sixth match point, Chung stung a forehand into the corner, ending the two hour, 28-minute match, then stood motionless absorbing the moment.