AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2018: CHUNG'S FRIGHTENING, BUT WON'T SCARE FEDERER – WILANDER
DYK❓If Hyeon Chung beats Roger Federer in tomorrow night's #AusOpen semifinal, it will be the first time no member of the ‘Big 4’ (Federer, Djokovic, Murray and Nadal) has reached the final here since 2005, when Marat Safin beat Lleyton Hewitt. pic.twitter.com/vPmrJSRwyp— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 25, 2018
The bespectacled 21-year-old, conqueror of six-times Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic, is already being compared to his Serbian victim with opponents finding it nigh on impossible to get the ball past his defences.
Federer, favourite to claim a sixth Australian Open and 20th grand slam in total, admits he knows little about Chung’s game having never faced him or watched many of his matches, but Wilander says that will not worry the Swiss great.
Federer, favourite to claim a sixth Australian Open and 20th grand slam in total, admits he knows little about Chung’s game having never faced him or watched many of his matches, but Wilander says that will not worry the Swiss great.
“Chung only has a
very small chance,” Wilander, working as a commentator for Eurosport in
Melbourne, told .
Pressure? You think
Hyeon Chung playing in his first Grand Slam semifinal at age 21 is pressure?
Friday’s match at
the Australian Open — Chung’s first against Roger Federer — will certainly be a
high-profile one, but through Chung’s lenses, the stakes were much higher in
September 2014 when he was competing in men’s doubles at the Asian Games in
Incheon, South Korea, in his home country.
Win the gold medal
with his partner, Yong-kyu Lim, and they would be exempt from South Korea’s
mandatory 21-month military service — a reward reserved for Korean athletes who
win titles in major international competitions.
”He doesn’t serve
well enough. There will be so much pressure on his serve and Federer will have
the freedom to try a few different things on the Chung serve.
”He won’t get enough
free points. Once the ball is in play he has a chance but I think he is a bit
too simple as a player at the moment against someone as experienced as Federer.
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2018
”It’s just not the
right player for him to play against. Federer has so many different weapons and
ways he can play.
“But it will be
interesting to see what he comes up with.”
Despite not giving
him much of a chance of eclipsing his Djokovic scalp by toppling Federer on
Friday, Wilander says Chung’s emergence is “very exciting” and he could be the
future of the game.
”He is a frightening
prospect because I don’t think the style of tennis is going in the direction of
Roger Federer,“ Wilander said. ”It’s going in the direction of great
athleticism and being aggressive from the back of the court.
”You have to have
unbelievable skills to play like Federer and I don’t think we’ll ever see his
style again.
🇦🇺 Roger Federer at the 2018 Australian Open:— bet365 (@bet365) January 24, 2018
✅ Beat Bedene 3-0
✅ Beat Struff 3-0
✅ Beat Gasquet 3-0
✅ Beat Fucsovics 3-0
✅ Beat Berdych 3-0
👊 Not. One. Set. Dropped.
🐐 pic.twitter.com/n3OUstzcJQ
”I think the
Djokovic style is the blueprint that Chung has followed and he is reminiscent
of Novak at his best.
“But somehow he is
more intimidating. He is thicker set and stronger and in terms of playing
against him it must be intimidating. And the scary thing is there’s so much
room for improvement with a serve that’s basically five out of 10.”
Chung is bidding to
become the first man to reach his first Tour level final at a grand slam since
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Australian Open 10 years ago.
Yet Wilander says
the match-up against Federer could be a “nightmare”.
“I don’t think he
will be intimidated by Federer’s aura, but more because of his game, his style
and how quick he plays, he won’t have much time to think out there,” Wilander
said.
Source: Reuters
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