Hong Kong tennis star Coleman Wong to play loose against ‘boa constrictor’ Lorenzo Musetti
Home star set for first ATP Tour quarter-final against world No 7 Italian at Victoria Park Tennis Centre on Friday
A “strong, explosive and wise” Coleman Wong Chak-lam has the skills and smarts to evade the grip of “boa constrictor” opponent Lorenzo Musetti in his Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open quarter-final on Friday.
That is the view of the 21-year-old’s coach, James Allemby, who has told Wong to approach his first ATP 250 last-eight tie with a “practice-match mentality”.
Allemby also believes world No 150 Wong has the ability to push the No 7-ranked Italian into “uncomfortable scenarios”, even without accessing his A-Game.
After beating Gabriel Diallo for one of his finest career results in round two on Wednesday, Wong was back on court to partner the Canadian to a three-set doubles quarter-final victory over Constantin Frantzen and Robin Haase 24 hours later.
Allemby revealed the pair would not contest their semi-final, with Diallo nursing a minor injury ahead of this month’s Australian Open.
“It’s not such a bad thing for Coleman, with his singles and Australia [qualifiers] next week in mind,” said Allemby, who was thrilled nonetheless that Wong had maintained his winning momentum.