Two days ago, Hyeon Chung scored the biggest win of his career, beating world No. 4 Alexander Zverev in the third round of the Australian Open. The 21-year-old, 58th-ranked South Korean followed up that upset with another giant one on Monday night, stunning 12-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (3).
Here are five takeaways from Chung’s primetime win over the six-time Australian Open champion:
1. He’s now the first Korean, male or female, to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal. Only two other Koreans had reached the round of 16 of any major: Hyung-Taik Lee doing it on the men’s side at the US Open in 2000 and 2007, and Duk-Hee Lee doing it on the women’s side at the US Open in 1981.
But they were both stopped there, and Chung is the first from his country to make a final eight.
2. He held his ground against one of the greatest returners of all time. Chung saved 14 of the 19 break points he faced against the always-lethal Djokovic return. Meanwhile, he converted six of the 10 break points he had on the Serb’s serve. His ground game was also incredibly solid. Playing one of the fastest players in the game, his groundstrokes produced 39 winners to 35 unforced errors.
3. He beat his childhood idol. Chung's official ATPWorldTour.com bio says: “Growing up, looked up to Novak Djokovic because of his fantastic game and mental strength.” He had lost their only previous career meeting, a 6-3 6-2 6-4 defeat in the first round of the Australian Open two years ago.
Match Point: