M15 Hong Kong (Week 1)
Bank of China Hong Kong ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour 2024
June 10-16
Jack Cheng, Wong Tsz Fu, Roger Ng, and Dasson Chan were given maindraw wildcards but they were defeated by ATP-ranked opponents in the first round. Top seed Evgenii Tiurnev, who had won two Challengers and 19 ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour singles titles and reached a career-high No. 265 in 2022, took on Ajeet Rai (NZL) in the final. The Russian was dominant on serve, as he belted 10 aces, saved all four break points he faced, and broke his opponent three times to register a 6-4 6-2 victory. Tiurnev captured his fourth, and 22nd overall, title this season. In the doubles final, Tomohiro Masabayashi/Thantub Suksumrarn (JPN/THA) broke No. 4 seed Ajeet Rai/Rishi Reddy (NZL/IND) three times, with two of them being crucial ones at the tail-end of each set, to win 6-3 7-5.
M15 Hong Kong (Week 2)
Bank of China Hong Kong ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour 2024
June 17-23
Third seed Shintaro Imai (JPN), who lifted the Hong Kong F3 Futures in 2017 and the M25 Hong Kong in 2019, continued to thrive at Victoria Park. He first saw off 31st Chengdu FISU World University Games silver medalist, Kasidit Samrej, in the quarterfinals before beating 4th-seeded Jake Delaney (AUS) in the title decider 6-4 6-4.
Jack Cheng, Wong Tsz Fu, Roger Ng, and Dasson Chan were again given maindraw wildcards. In only his second career ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour event, 15-year-old Jack Cheng beat 1215th-ranked Advil Kalyanpur (IND) 7-6(4) 6-3 in the opening round en route to the quarterfinal and earned his first couple of ATP ranking points in the process. He then recorded his first-ever ATP Ranking of No. 1540 on July 1. Cheng is a member of Hong Kong’s Davis Cup Juniors team that is contesting the World Finals later this year.
In a battle of unseeded teams, Siwanat Auytayakul/Kasidit Samrej (THA) beat Yuichiro Inui/Kazuki Nishiwaki (JPN) 6-4 3-6 [10-6] to claim the doubles title. The Thai pair won three successive matches via a third set super-tiebreak from the quarterfinals onwards.
W15 Hong Kong
ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour 2024
June 24-30 Victoria Park
Maindraw wildcards were given to Erica Hagi, Vienna Lai, Justine Leong, and Hannah Shen. Cody Wong, seeded third, beat Christy Che (HKG) 6-4 6-3 and qualifier Yandy Shek (HKG) 6-2 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals. However, her progress was halted by eventual champion, Priska Nugroho (INA), who defeated No. 1 seed Saki Imamura (JPN) 6-3 6-4 in the final. Nugroho, who was ranked No. 265 this time last year, is the reigning SEA Games women’s singles champion and a former top 10 junior in 2021. Yandy Shek captured the G10 title at the Hong Kong National Junior Tennis Championships 2015. She currently plays for San Jose State University and she was named Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year for the 2023/24 NCAA season.
W35 Hong Kong
ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour 2024
July 1-7 HKSI
Maindraw wildcards were given to Maggie Ng, Yandy Shek, and Christy Che. In the second round, Eudice Chong was dominant on serve and capitalised on 4 of 10 break points to beat Hina Inoue (USA) 6-3 6-4. Inoue had lifted a pair of W15 titles earlier this year and was a semifinalist at the W35 Changwon a month ago. Meanwhile, Cody Wong trailed 5th seed Shi Han (CHN) by a break and 5-3 in the first set when she reeled off six consecutive games to take a 7-5 2-0 lead. Although affected by a rain delay, she did well after the restart to complete a tough 7-5 7-6(4) victory. Just last month, the 19-year-old Shi Han beat Liang En-Shuo, Wang Qiang, and Lu Jia-Jing en route to the W50 Taizhou title. Wildcard entry, Yandy Shek, who made it to the previous week’s quarterfinal as a qualifier, won another maindraw match in Week 2 before she bowed out to No. 6 seed Tatiana Prozorova.
In the quarterfinals, Cody Wong was down 6-2 in the second set tiebreak and saved four match points to draw even at 6-6 before No. 2 seed and world No. 246 Himeno Sakatsume outlasted the Hong Kong Billie Jean King Cupper 6-1 7-6(6). Against No. 6 seed Tatiana Prozorova, who was ranked in the top 200 last year, Eudice Chong trailed by a set and a break when she put together a 9-game run to jump out to a 3-0 lead in the third before she won 6-7(4) 6-2 6-1 in three-and-a-half hours of play.
In the semifinals, Chong broke Sakatsume seven times and held an advantage in almost all of the major statistical categories to win 6-2 6-3 to advance to the final. The Japanese beat Katie Boulter in the final to win the W80 Gifu last year and later peaked at No. 163. Against 20-year-old Yao Xinxin in the final, Chong broke serve six times and was physically stronger of the two under the stifling heat, winning it in straight sets 6-3 6-3 to capture her second singles title this season.
Eudice Chong/Cody Wong won a hard-fought women’s doubles final against No. 2 seed Hiromi Abe/Saki Imamura (JPN), as they managed to eke out 4 of the last five points in the third set super-tiebreak to win 6-4 3-6 [10-7]. In doing so, the HK duo has cemented their 12th career ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour doubles title as a tandem.
J30 Draws & Results
Gym Aesthetics Hong Kong ITF Junior Tournament 2024 (Week 1)
June 30-July 6
Fifteen-year-old Walter Tam, seeded third, beat No. 4 seed Aidan Bart (USA) 6-1 6-0 to pocket his maiden ITF World Tennis Tour Junior singles title. He also partnered Jacker Cheung to beat No. 1 seed Gao Ruochen/Yoshito Oda (CHN/JPN) 4-6 7-5 [10-7] to win the boys’ doubles. Tam is a member of the Hong Kong under-16 team that is competing in the Davis Cup Juniors Finals later this year. On the girls’ side, Hong Kong’s Cameron Yeung knocked out No. 4 seed Xie Yutong (CHN) to reach the semifinals before she was upended by top-seeded world No. 470 Chen Yuhan (CHN), who is ranked close to 1,300 places higher. The girls’ doubles title went to No. 2 seed Ge Lingyou/Xie Yutong (CHN), who accounted for HK pair Hebe Leung/Cameron Yeung in the semis. Sze Hiu Tung/Chloe Wong knocked out No. 1 seed Chen Yuhan/Zhou Tianni (CHN) en route to the last four.
J30 Draws & Results
Gym Aesthetics Hong Kong ITF Junior Tournament 2024 (Week 2)
July 7-13
Walter Tam defeated top seed Nicholas Cheng 7-5 6-1 to capture his second career ITF World Tennis Tour Junior title following last week’s triumph. Tam and Cheng then teamed up to beat No. 4 seed Hu Jia/Zhang Zurui (CHN) 6-1 6-2 to bag their second boys’ doubles title in as many weeks.
On the girls’ side, in a battle of the top 2 seeds, Chen Yuhan (CHN) beat No. 2 Jacey Tian (CAN) 6-1 6-4 to win her second straight singles title. In the girls’ doubles final, Hong Kong’s Rosalyn Chan partnered Jacey Tian to beat top-seeded Chen Yuhan/Zhou Tianni (CHN) 7-6(6) 7-6(4) to lift the doubles title. ETG players Rosalyn Chan and Cameron Yeung made it to the singles semifinals before they were ousted by the No. 1 and No. 2 seed respectively.
Staging ITF World Tennis Tour Men’s, Women’s, and Junior events in Hong Kong
For aspiring tennis professionals, access to entry level tournaments is extremely important for a variety of reasons. They provide a platform for young players to improve their skills and acquire match-play experience to make the necessary progress in order to advance their careers. They essentially serve as a vital pathway for junior players transitioning to the professional men’s and women’s level. They provide players with the opportunity to earn ranking points. The results of these tournaments are then incorporated into the computerised ranking system and it is a player’s ranking that ultimately determines his/her entry to competitions worldwide, be it in ITF events, ATP/WTA Tour events or the four Grand Slams.
Roger Federer, for instance, gained his first ATP Ranking of No. 803 after competing in the Switzerland 1 Masters Satellite in September 1997. Rafael Nadal clinched his maiden ATP Ranking of No. 1003 following the Seville Challenger in September 2001 after unsuccessful attempts in three Satellites and two Futures events earlier that year. Andy Murray got his initial ranking of No. 774 after the Manchester Challenger in July 2003 when earlier pursuits in Future events in Britain and a Satellite in Spain did not materialise. Carlos Alcaraz attained his maiden ranking of No. 1414 after reaching the quarterfinals of his second career Futures event at the Spanish F5 in February 2018. Jannik Sinner lost in the qualifying rounds of his first eight career Futures events before garnering his first-ever ATP Ranking of No. 1502 in an Egyptian Futures in 2018 when he was 17.
Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong gained his maiden ATP Ranking of No. 1755 after earning his first ranking point at the M15 at Victoria Park in January 2020. Jack Wong earned his first ranking point at the Hong Kong F1 Futures in the Summer of 2014. Kevin Wong also won his first ranking point at the Hong Kong F1 Futures in the Summer of 2015. Current Hong Kong Davis Cup Captain, Yu Hiu Tung, earned his first ranking point at the Hong Kong F2 Futures in 2001. On the women’s side, current Hong Kong No. 1 Eudice Chong earned her first WTA Ranking point by winning her first maindraw match at the $10,000 Hong Kong in January 2013. Cody Wong also earned her first point at the $15,000 Hong Kong in 2018 when she beat Chinese Taipei’s Lee Pei-Chi in the opening round.
Youngest players from Hong Kong to hold an ATP/WTA Singles Ranking:
ATP
Coleman Wong 15 years 138 days
Jack Cheng 15 years 188 days
Jack Wong 15 years and 325 days
Brian Yeung 17 years 9 days
Wayne Wong 17 years 23 days
Martin Sayer 17 years 85 days
Lam Ching 17 years 120 days
Yu Hiu Tung 17 years 259 days
Brian Hung 17 years 324 days
WTA
Zhang Ling 16 years 24 days
Willy Chan 16 years 218 day
Tong Ka Po 16 years 242 days
Venise Chan 16 years 286 days
Katherine Ip 16 years 303 days
Patricia Hy 17 years 217 days
Cody Wong 17 years 221 days
Eudice Chong 17 years 266 days
Paulette Moreno 17 years 282 days