The afterglow of the Korean tennis drama, which was shown on the 5th (Korean time), lingers. The Korean national team advanced to the finals for the second year in a row with a total of 3 wins and 2 losses in the final round of the 2023 Davis Cup against Belgium.
On the first day, ace Kwon Soon-woo (Dangjin City Hall) suffered a shocking defeat in the first singles match, and Hong Seong-chan (Sejong City Hall) in the second singles match was not good enough to face Belgian ace David Gopan. As such, the national team suffered two defeats, and the defeat was deepened, and on the second day, even if it suffered only one loss, it was in danger of losing its advance to the finals.
However, the national team did not give스포츠토토 up and produced a miracle.
The national team ‘eldest brother’ Song Min-gyu (KDB Industrial Bank)-Nam Ji-seong (Sejong City Hall) pair beat the Yoran Bligen-Sander Giele pair, who were ranked 100th in the world rankings, and stopped the start. Kwon Soon-woo then won an ace match against Gopang and restored his pride. The whereabouts of the match was decided in the final 4 singles, and Hong Seong-chan, who had not been active in the Davis Cup, finished with a lot of pressure.
Above all, the last match point was the highlight. Hong Seong-chan led 5-0 in the tie-break in the second set, but was chased 6-4. Hong Seong-chan, who withstood the aggressive net dash pressure from Jiju Berris, succeeded in a picturesque backhand lob shot across the baseline, confirming Korea’s final victory.
Hong Seong-chan’s last lob shot also caught the attention of the ATP (men’s professional tennis). On the 5th (local time), ATP quoted and reported an article on the Davis Cup homepage titled ‘A surprise in Seoul’.
The ATP said, “Hong Seong-chan, ranked 237th in the world, kept his composure in defeating Berris 6-3 7-6 (4) in the decisive 5th match and won the victory for the country against an opponent ranked 122nd in the ATP rankings.” .
The ATP then posted a video of Hong Seong-chan’s last match point shot, the backhand lob.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) also selected the 5 best shots on the final day of the tournament. Dominic Thiem’s (Austria) backhand, some fantastic shots from some doubles matches, and Hong Sung-chan’s lob shot were introduced at the end.
Overseas tennis fans who watched Hong Sung-chan’s play commented after watching the video, “I want to see him play in the Australian Open next year in the top 100 rankings”, “This is why the Davis Cup is better than the ATP Tour. Most people don’t know who this player is. I don’t know, but I’m sure you know Korea well.”