Korean tennis, where Kwon Soon-woo (52nd, Dangjin City Hall) wrote a new history, challenges another history in the Davis Cup, a national competition. Kwon Soon-woo’s role is also important.
The Korean men’s tennis team, led by coach Park Seung-kyu (KDB Industrial Bank), will play a home game against Belgium at the indoor tennis stadium located in Seoul Olympic Park for two days from February 4 to 5 before advancing to the final round of the 2023 Davis Cup.
The Korean national team will be led by ace Kwon Soon-woo, followed by Hong Seong-chan (257th), Nam Ji-seong (Sejong City Hall, 153rd in doubles), and Song Min-gyu (KDB Industrial Bank, 147th in doubles). The members who led the team to advance to the Davis Cup finals last year have reunited.
Korea, which reached the Davis Cup last year for the first time in 15 years, was unfortunately eliminated without a win in the finals, but proved its competitiveness on the world stage by engaging in close matches with strong players.
In particular, Kwon Soon-woo established the pride of Korean tennis by defeating Felix Oze Aliasim (Canada), who was ranked 13th in the world at the time.
The goal of the national team, which has reunited after a year, is to advance to the finals for the second year in a row. There has never been a case where Korean tennis has reached the Davis Cup finals for two consecutive years. Challenge the first history.
The team’s determination is strong. On the 22nd, he will enter the Jincheon National Training Center and concentrate on preparing for the Davis Cup. An official from the Korea Tennis Association explained, “It is rare for tennis players to enter the Jincheon National Training Center for training. This reflects the strong will of the players toward the Davis Cup.”
Belgium is competing against Korea to advance to the finals. Belgium has been runners-up in the Davis Cup three times, in 1904, 2015 and 2017.
Korea faced Belgium once in the 1990 World Group qualifier round 1 away match. At that time, Kim Jae-shik and Yu Jin-sun won one match in doubles, but lost 1-4. After 33 years, he seeks revenge in Korea.
The ace of the Belgian national team is David Gopin (50th). Gopin is a veteran who rose to No. 7 in the rankings in 2017 and has six men’s professional tennis (ATP) tour titles in his career. There is a high possibility that he will face off against Kwon Soon-woo in singles. 안전놀이터
Along with Gopin, Jiju Berris (#130), Kimmer Kopians (#220), Sander Gillet (#52 in doubles), and Yoran Bligen (#51 in doubles) will compete in the Korean match.
The mood of the Korean national team ahead of the final match is good. As Kwon Soon-woo wrote a new history, morale rose.
Kwon Soon-woo recently won the singles championship at the 2nd Adelaide International Championship held in Adelaide, Australia, becoming the first Korean to win two ATP tour titles.
With Kwon Soon-woo’s victory, a positive atmosphere was formed in the national team, saying, ‘We can do well even if we face world-class players.’
Not only Kwon Soon-woo, but also Hong Seong-chan are expected to perform well in this tournament. Last year, he was on the rise, winning his first victory at the ATP Challenger event in Japan. An official from the association said, “Hong Seong-chan’s ranking has risen a lot thanks to his good performance last year. There is an expectation that he will show good performance in singles as his skills improve.”
In addition, the collaboration between Song Min-kyu and Nam Ji-seong, who won the doubles victory for the first time in Korea at the Davis Cup finals last year, is evaluated as not inferior to Belgium.
Meanwhile, the Davis Cup will be played in 4 singles and 1 doubles, with 2 singles matches on the first day followed by 1 doubles match and 2 singles matches on the second day.