Wildcard entry Coleman Wong defied the rankings by beating world No. 14 Ben Shelton 7-6(3) 2-6 7-6(5) to reach the third round of the ATP Masters 1000 Miami Open. He will next face 89th-ranked luck-loser, Aussie Adam Walton, an opponent he beat six months ago in straight sets at the Nonthaburi Challenger quarterfinal. Wong is the first player from Hong Kong to compete in this event.

“When I first started playing tennis at 5, I always dreamed about playing in big tournaments like the Miami Open and against top players like Ben. Serving for the match at 5-3 in the third, I felt it was me against the whole world out there, but I managed to block it out in the end and got the job done eventually. I told myself just calm down and enjoy the moment,” said Wong, who peaked at No. 128 last September after coming within a point of beating top 40-ranked Brandon Nakashima at the ATP 250 Chengdu round of sixteen.

In the opening set, servers dominated proceedings until the eighth game when Wong found himself down two break points 15-40. After Shelton botched a return on second serve, the HK rep ripped an ace out wide to force deuce. Then on game point, he served another one out wide to hold for 4-4.

Wong hit his fair share of winners and stayed close all the way to the tiebreak when Shelton blasted an ace down the tee to get his local Floridian crowd riled up. After Wong punched a volley long, the American smacked a huge inside-out forehand winner to register his second mini break and jumped out to a quick-fire 3-0 lead.

From this moment on, however, Wong was the better player. He found first serves when he needed to, connected down-the-line off either wing to outstretch Shelton, and making first serve returns to frustrate his opponent. The HK rep won seven points in a row to snatch the set 7-3.

Shelton managed to break Wong straightaway to start the second and consolidated with a thumping ace for a love hold. With the crowd getting more vociferous by this stage, the American took advantage of a number of second serves to break again to go up 4-1. Wong was unable to make any inroads, as Shelton held the rest of the way to take the set 6-2.

The world No. 14 was ready to pounce and made two huge first serve returns in the opening game of the third, as Wong faced two break points serving at 15-40. The HK rep controlled the rallies and hit crosscourt forehands to save both times before he held for 1-0. Games went with serve until the sixth game, when, up to this point, Shelton has yet to face a break point on his serve.

Up 40-15, Shelton made a couple of unforced errors to open the door for Wong. At deuce, the American hit a forehand wide followed by a backhand long to concede his serve for the first time. Serving for the match with a 5-3 lead in hand, Wong was broken to love after Shelton produced two probing first serve returns with his backhand to stunt the HK rep’s progress. On serve trailing 6-5, Shelton was under siege and needed to dig deep to save two match points before he held serve to take proceedings to a tiebreak.

The players exchanged a mini break in the early going but the breaker remained a seesawing affair until 5-5 when Shelton first flinched by hooking a forehand wide to hand Wong a third match point. This time, the HK rep did not disappoint, as he smacked a first serve winner to close out a memorable 7-6(3) 2-6 7-6(5) victory.

Earlier in the first round, Wong saved all four break points he faced and broke 82nd-ranked Daniel Altmaier twice to win his first maindraw match at an ATP Masters 1000 event 6-4 6-3.

Best Wildcard Finishes at ATP Masters 1000 Miami:

2003 QF Robby Ginepri
2001 QF Andy Roddick
1995 QF Mats Wilander
1994 QF Stefan Edberg

Photo: ArcK Photography @arckphoto