It was only a few years ago that South Korea’s Hyeon Chung was one of the fastest-rising young stars in the sport. He won the Next Gen ATP Finals at the end of 2017—which included wins over Daniil Medvedev and Denis Shapovalov, as well as two wins over Andrey Rublev—then reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open at the start of 2018, as well as his first two Masters 1000 quarterfinals at Indian Wells and Miami. He even broke into the Top 20 after Miami, rising to No. 19.
But then, the injuries began.
Not only was he not even able to compete at the next two majors after his run in Australia, missing Roland Garros and Wimbledon with an Achilles injury, but he also struggled throughout 2019 with a back injury, missing those same two majors again. And since the fall edition of Roland Garros in 2020 he’s been out with a back injury.
Until this week, that is—Chung is back, playing doubles at the ATP 250 event in Seoul alongside current South Korean No. 1, Soonwoo Kwon.
“It has taken me a long time to return to the court after rehabilitation, but I just feel good as I am able to come back to the court,” Chung said in his pre-tournament press conference this week, translated from Korean to English.
“No matter what the result will be, I will do my best.”