Miami upset shows Hong Kong tennis belongs, but I must conquer clay: Coleman Wong
City’s highest-ranked player hopes to continue recent breakthrough form in clay-court season, starting with wild card at Madrid Open
Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong Chak-lam wants to use this year’s clay-court season to continue his push to join tennis’ elite ranks.
And Wong, the highest-ranked player in Hong Kong’s history, is hoping to earn a wild card for the ATP Masters 1000 Madrid, which starts on April 23.
The 20-year-old will be looking to build on an impressive run in the Miami Open last month, when he beat world No 14 Ben Shelton before losing to Australian Adam Walton in the third round.
But to maintain his rise, Wong believes he needs to show progress on clay courts, during the annual run of tournaments played on the surface. He could be handed his first chance to do so in Madrid.
“We have to go to clay in the long run,” world No 173 Wong told the Post as he reflected on his run in Miami. “If you want to be a top player, you can’t skip clay and play just hard courts.”
Wong endured a tough start to this year, starting with a 7-6, 6-4 loss to Jerry Shang Juncheng, then ranked 50th, in Hong Kong.