Davis Cup: Coleman Wong rues missed chances as ‘unlucky’ Hong Kong fall 3-2 to Latvia
- Visitors win world group II tie at Victoria Park with Robert Strombachs holding off a determined Coleman Wong on Sunday afternoon
- Latvian No 1 and partner Mikelis Libietis earlier beat Coleman Wong and Jack Wong in doubles clash to take 2-1 lead and swing momentum their way
Rising tennis star Coleman Wong Chak-lam rued “unlucky” Hong Kong’s missed chances as the hosts lost their world group II Davis Cup tie 3-2 to Latvia at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium on Sunday.
Latvian No 1 Strombachs then returned to beat a battling Coleman Wong 6-4, 7-6 in a crucial fourth rubber to end Hong Kong’s hopes in their first home tie since 2019, and send hundreds of fans streaming out of the stadium into Victoria Park.
“There’s a lot of positives to take because I feel like we tried our best, and the whole team gave everything,” Coleman Wong said. “At the end of the day we were just a bit unlucky.
“It was a very close match, especially in the doubles [when] we had a lot of chances, and also in the singles. It was not easy to swallow, but we will move on and hopefully in [this month’s] Asian Games we will get some great results.”
With Latvia’s lead unassailable, reserve Roger Ng Ki-lung later took to the court to defeat Daniels Tens 7-5, 6-2 in a dead fifth rubber. Jack Wong, 25 had originally been set to face Latvian No 2 Martins Rocens, had the tie still been alive.
It was another disappointing defeat for Hong Kong. A year ago, they squandered match points in the doubles match in their tie away to Taiwan. This time, they wasted precious break points against Strombachs and doubles specialist Libietis, who is No 145 in the ATP doubles rankings.
With victory, Latvia booked their place in the 2024 world group I play-offs with 11 other first-round winners, while Hong Kong will instead play in the world group II play-offs once again.
“We thought we had it,” Coleman Wong said. “Playing on a home court after three years was not easy. It was something else, playing in front of my family and friends and all the crowd cheering for me and the whole team, it was just another level.
“It was actually my dream since I played tennis to actually play in these stadiums and play with a full crowd. I loved it. I really enjoyed it.”
He refused to go down easily in the fourth match, a singles clash with Strombachs. After losing the first set, the two-time junior doubles major champion, who is ranked 534th in the world in singles, saved a break point at 3-3 in the second.
He then had a break point of his own on the world No 385’s serve, but failed to take it.
The second set went to a tiebreak and Wong saved a match point on his serve at 6-5. But a double fault presented Strombachs with another chance to win the tie, and the 23-year-old duly took it after one hour and 49 minutes.
“Obviously there was pressure because we lost the doubles, and we’re down 2-1,” Wong said. “But I tried not to think about it when I was playing the singles.
“I actually played really good, I’m not gonna lie. I played my level, but in the important moments I didn’t play my best. I just need to keep working on it and build my game and improve every day.
“I feel like I’m up there with [Strombachs] and I’ve beaten people like this before. I know what it feels to play against these guys, so I’m not very satisfied with my performance, but it was not that bad.”
