In South Korea a new wave of tennis enthusiasts materialized when tennis player Chung Hyeon worked his way into the semifinals of the Australian Open. Once he got there he found himself across the net from arguably the greatest male tennis player to play the game: Roger Federer. Yet, despite such an overwhelming obstacle Hyeon made his mark as the first Korean player to every make it so deep into a Grand Slam Tournament. By that act alone his face became the trending topic and pride of South Koreans not only across the country but throughout the world.
To make the feat even more impressive, he’s also the youngest player to reach the semifinals in Eight long years. As you can imagine, people noticed and now, at 21 years old, this young man stands poised to break out as one of tennis’s most promising rising stars. In Korea that means he’s now THE MAN. What shoes are he wearing? Everyone will have them. Who makes those glasses? Everyone will find out and buy a pair. What Racket does he use? Everyone will buy it, use it, and then buy another when that one breaks. Tennis Academies will fill up 
Hyeon came into the Australian Open ranked number 58 in the world. His path to semis found him battling past players like Sandren, Djokovic (his hero), Zverev, Medvedev, all to face the eventual winner of the entire tournament in the Semis. He fell to Federer due to blisters that forced him to retire. Yet, despite his downfall Hyeon remains standing tall as a hero to Koreans. With this run he has vaulted to number 29 in the world. So, he’s a winner after all!
You have just reminded me of our difficulty in finding a tennis court when we arrived here to continue the tennis lessons of my son. It was painfully frustrating. I hope they do make more tennis courts and more tennis classes. My sons are now into soccer, though:-). It’s the most popular and easily accessible sports classes they can engage in.
And when you do find a court, it’s clay!
Soccer, ice skating, swimming, tennis, baseball and curling – the growth of Korean athletes in these and other sports has been so impressive that I can only hope that more athletic hagwons start opening up. These kids need to do physical exercise just as much as mental, yet parents fail to think so. Maybe with the Olympics fresh on the mind we will see a new wave of athleticism wash over ROK.
I hope the wave continues!
I don’t follow Korean tennis but nice to see that Chung Hyeon is of international interest.
He was a bright story in an otherwise dreary Aussie open.
This reminds me of hearing about Premier League teams. You used to always hear about Man United because of Park Ji-seong, but now it’s all about Tottenham because of Son Heung-min. It’s pretty cool to see tennis taking off, though… I’ve always enjoyed going to tennis courts and playing some casual games with friends.
Yes! I’ve seen this happening all over my city the tennis classes have been filling up and his victory game played over and over on replay. It’s a great thing that it inspires people to try something new I guess. Without coming off as too cheeky I would have to say that losing to Federer was not all about the injury 😉 It will be interesting to see how his tennis career progresses!
The spotlight has definitely been turned on to many Korean athletes as of late (mainly due to the Olympics) but it’s interesting to see how he’s making strides in a sport where Korea hasn’t had any real international contenders in a long time. Could he be the next Kim Yuna in terms of trendsetting and national identity? It’ll be interesting to see.
I hope so, but he better treat those blisters first! ^^
I’d never head of Chung Hyeon, but then again I don’t follow tennis or many sports in general! I wonder though, is he still the MAN, after the Garlic Girls? Or has he been displaced… 😉
Long live the Garlic Girls! lol!