South Korean men's tennis failed to surpass Serbia in the first round of the Davis Cup Finals, which advanced for the first two consecutive years. As even ace Kwon Soon-woo (Dangjin City Hall) was built, he realized the high wall of the world.
The national team lost 0-3 in the first leg of Group C of the 2023 Davis Cup Finals in Valencia, Spain, on the 12th (local time). He gave up two singles matches and one doubles match.
It will be difficult to guarantee that the top two countries in each group will advance to the quarterfinals. South Korea will play a group match against the Czech Republic on the 14th and Spain on the 17th.
The Davis Cup is a national competition called the World Cup for men's tennis, and Korea has made history of advancing to the finals this year following last year. This year's Finals will feature 16 countries in four groups for the first time, and the winner will be determined by the tournament from the quarterfinals.
South Korea had a neck-and-neck race in the first and second singles, but fell behind in the match. Serbia was strong even if Novak Djokovic, the ace and the world's No. 1 singles player who has won the most singles titles (24 times) in major tournaments, was absent due to a break from winning the US Open.
In the first singles, Hong Sung-chan (Sejong City Hall), ranked 194th in the world, participated first. With his persistent defense, Hong Sung-chan gave up the first set against 52nd-ranked Doosan Rayovitch and drove the second set to the tiebreak. However, he lost the set score of 0 to 2 (4-6 6-7 <3>) after being pushed to 1-5 in the tie break.
Ace Kwon Soon-woo, ranked 112th in the second singles, seemed to change the atmosphere by winning the first set 6-4 against Laslo Jere (37th). However, Jere in the second set boosted his sense of play and won 6-2 until the third set.
Nam Ji-sung (126th in doubles, Sejong City Hall) and Song Min-kyu (185th in doubles, KDB Development Bank) participated in the third doubles. The victory and defeat were already divided, but the two lost 1-2 (6-3 4-6 6-7 <5) after a neck-and-neck race in the third set, winning the first set against Nikola Kacic (62nd in the doubles) and Miomir Ketsmanovic (184th in the doubles).
After the game, Kwon Soon-woo said, "I think I lost my stamina quickly because the tension fell from the beginning of the second set," adding, "I don't think I prepared much because the opponent came out with a different strategy from the second set." Hong Sung-chan also said, "I want to give about 3 out of 10 points (to grade myself)," adding, "I thought I could win this time, and I prepared a lot, but I was disappointed (by the result) and I feel sorry that I couldn't contribute to the team."
Captain Song Min-kyu said, "Serbia without Djokovic was an opportunity for us and it is regrettable that we could not take advantage of that opportunity," adding, "I think our team will grow one step further because we felt a lot through today's game." Nam Ji-sung stressed, "I lost the game, but I was satisfied with the content, so I am confident that I will perform much better in the next match against the Czech Republic and Spain."
"The next opponent, the Czech Republic, is not an easy opponent, but I think we will have a good chance to win if we become a 'one team' like today," national team coach Kim Young-joon said. South Korea will clash with the Czech Republic at 10 p.m. on the 14th in Korean time.