Hong Kong, China is aiming for another good showing in front of home fans at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium when the team takes on No. 2 seed Ecuador in the first round of the Davis Cup 2024 World Group II from 14-15 September. The winner of this tie will advance to the 2025 World Group I Play-offs next February, while the World Group II Play-offs will await the losing nation.
Nominations for Hong Kong, China are Coleman Wong, Jack Cheng, Roger Ng, Kevin Wong, Wong Tsz Fu, and Yu Hiu Tung (Captain).
Nominations for Ecuador are Andres Andrade, Emilio Gomez, Marcos Lee Chan Baratau, Gonzalo Escobar, Diego Hidalgo, and Raul Viver (Captain).
Yu Hiu Tung, who is captaining the side for the eleventh time: “On paper, Ecuador has an ATP top 250 player in singles and two players in the top 100 in doubles. They are the No. 2 seed. So, we have nothing to lose, but we do have is our home crowd behind us and they give our players great energy, so we’ll see. We have great team spirit but, ultimately, it will come down to who plays better on match day.”
Hong Kong Davis Cup Team Manager, Oscar Chow: “We have a very young squad, with two of them being first-time nominations, but our spirit is high and we have great team chemistry. I’m looking forward to a big turnout from our home fans. This’ll be a good test for us.”
Ecuador’s Captain Raul Viver has been at the helm since 1994. The tie against Hong Kong, China this week will be his 70th overall, a Davis Cup all-time record. Ecuador has nominated 250th-ranked Andres Andrade, No. 1106 Emilio Gomez and the top 100 doubles duo of Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo, who are ranked No. 54 and No. 78 in doubles respectively.
In 2024, Andrade reached the finals of the Santo Domingo and Savannah Challengers and captured the M25 Pensacola title. He is 1-1 lifetime against Coleman Wong on hard courts at the Challenger level. Gomez made his Davis Cup debut in 2010 and has played every year since without exception. He has totalled 22 ties with a 17-12 win-loss record in singles and 3-6 in doubles. He was ranked as high as ATP No. 90 in singles eighteen months ago in February 2023 shortly after reaching the quarterfinals at the ATP 250 Dallas, but has dropped to a current mark of No. 1106.
Escobar won the ATP 250 Estoril doubles title and reached the final of the ATP 250 Los Cabos this year. Hidalgo won the Santo Domingo Challenger on clay and was a finalist at the ATP 250 Mallorca, Surbiton Challenger, and Aix En Provence Challenger. As a pair, Escobar and Hidalgo has a 5-4 record in Davis Cup doubles.
Earlier in February, Ecuador was defeated by Israel 3-1 in the World Group I play-off and was relegated, while Hong Kong beat Zimbabwe 3-0 at home to stave off relegation to Group III.
Since the tie against Zimbabwe, Hong Kong No. 1 Coleman Wong has managed to qualify for the maindraw of his first ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami and broke into the top 150 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time and is currently at a career-high No. 137. Competing in his eleventh tie, Kevin Wong’s eight career Davis Cup doubles victories put him second all-time behind only Mark Bailey’s total of 12. Fifteen-year-old Jack Cheng recorded his first ranking points by reaching the quarterfinals of the M15 Hong Kong earlier this summer and is ranked No. 1600. Roger Ng, aged 23, is nominated for the sixth time and is ranked No. 2102 at present. Cheng and 18-year-old Wong Tsz Fu are first-time nominations.
Hong Kong, China’s best spell in the Davis Cup occurred between 1988-1992 when the team reached the Group II Final four times, defeating Pakistan in 1988 and Thailand in 1992 to gain promotion to Group I. The team’s most recent run to the Group II Final came in 2003.
Start times:
Day 1: Saturday 14 September @ 1200 hrs local (0400 hrs GMT)
Day 2: Sunday 15 September @ 1200 hrs local (0400 hrs GMT)
About The Davis Cup
First began in 1900 as a contest between USA and Great Britain, the Davis Cup is now the world’s largest annual international team competition in sport, with 155 nations entering in 2023. The list of tennis legends to have competed in the Davis Cup over the years includes all of the game’s most well-known names, with the competition providing a unique team environment in an otherwise individual sport.
Past winners the likes of Fred Perry, Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray have all represented their country with passion and commitment, as the Davis Cup continues to attract the game’s best and brightest.
Notes
HKG Youngest Davis Cup Team (Average Age)
1999 Wayne Wong, Michael Wu, Melvin Tong, Ivan Yeh (18.3)
2019 Jack Wong, Brian Yeung, Coleman Wong, Kai Wai Yu (19.5)
2024 Coleman Wong, Jack Cheng, Roger Ng, Kevin Wong, Wong Tsz Fu (20.8)
Live 5th rubbers
2017 G2 First Round
Karan Rastogi d. Nguyen Hoang Thien (VIE) 6-7(4) 6-1 6-2 6-1
2008 G2 Relegation Playoff
Michael Lai d. Ibrahim Abou Chahine (LBN) 6-1 6-1 6-2
2000 G2 Relegation Playoff
Wayne Wong d. Pavel Baranov (KAZ) 6-4 4-6 7-6(5) 6-2
1998 G2 Relegation Playoff
Chen Chih-Jung (TPE) d. Chris Lai 6-4 6-2 6-0
1991 G2 Final
Chen Chih-Jung (TPE) d. Colin Grant 7-5 6-3 6-3
1990 G2 Final
Thanakorn Srichaphan (THA) d. Colin Grant 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-1
1986 Eastern 1st Round
Colin Grant d. Yeo Kian-Wah (MAS) 6-2 6-2 6-2
1984 Eastern 1st Round
Kelvin Ng d. Liu Chung-Hsing (TPE) 6-3 7-5 6-2
1982 Eastern 1st Round
Manuel Valleramos (PHI) d. Pang Chi-Yuen 6-1 6-0 6-0