New York (AFP) – Coleman Wong’s fairytale US Open campaign came to a halt in the third round on Saturday as the Hong Kong player exited after a five-set thriller against Russian 15th seed Andrey Rublev. Wong, the first player from Hong Kong ever to win a Grand Slam singles match in the Open era, bowed out in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 defeat on the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center’s Grandstand court.
The experienced Rublev was pushed all the way by the 21-year-old, who trains at Rafael Nadal’s tennis academy in Spain and who had fought his way into the main draw via the qualifiers. Wong, ranked 173rd in the world, delighted a packed crowd with some superb shots, his signature disguised drop shot repeatedly leaving Rublev scrambling at the net.
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After his success in New York, Wong has now set his sights on breaking into the top 100. He returns to Hong Kong to play in a Davis Cup match against Uzbekistan next month, before joining the ATP Tour’s Asian swing. “I’m getting closer, and I’ve proved to myself that I can do it,” Wong said of his rankings goal. “I need to keep believing. I can see that I have the potential and I can scare the big guys. I believe in myself more now. I was still in Challengers, and now I’m in US Open third round, almost beating a tough top 20 player, going five sets with them. It means I’m capable of pushing them all the way,” added Wong.
A relieved Rublev described the 3hr 10min battle as a “tough, tough match.” “He was playing with no fear, really aggressive. I didn’t start well and he was all over me. I had to fight for every ball to turn around the match.” Rublev revealed he had been expecting a tough challenge after practicing against Wong in Cincinnati recently. “He destroyed me on the practice court and he beat me,” he said. “That gave him the confidence today to play super-good.”
Rublev will now face either third seed Alexander Zverev or Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last 16 on Monday as he attempts to reach the quarter-finals for the fifth time. “I feel great,” Rublev said. “Maybe I didn’t enjoy today that much. Today was a bit more drama than enjoyable.”
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