Coleman Wong seeks inspiration for Hong Kong from full house at Davis Cup tie
Young city team will have ‘really good experience’ against fifth-seeded Uzbekistan at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium on Saturday and Sunday
The Pied Piper of Hong Kong tennis, Coleman Wong Chak-lam, has said the city’s inexperienced Davis Cup team would seize inspiration from a packed home crowd in their bid to upset Uzbekistan this weekend.
Wong is preparing to return to the court following his fabulous run to round three of the US Open last month.
The 21-year-old’s exploits in New York, where he was ultimately ousted in five sets by No 15 seed Andrey Rublev, sent his profile soaring back home.
A media event to preview Hong Kong’s World Group II clash with the No 5-seeded Uzbeks was bursting to capacity, hours after organisers confirmed every ticket for the two-day match at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium had been snapped up.
“The attention is motivation for the whole team,” Wong said. “Before, we had not so many people watching us play in the Davis Cup, but the tickets went really quickly. It’s going to be a really good experience for all of us.”
With an average age of 21.2, captain Yu Hiu-tung has picked the fourth-youngest Hong Kong team in history, and he conceded Uzbekistan have the “more balanced team with better depth”. At world No 148, Wong is the tie’s highest-ranked competitor, but the Uzbeks boast top-500 pair Khumoyun Sultanov and Sergey Fomin in their contingent.