Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong holds out hope for Australian Open spot through ‘lucky loser’ card
Hongkonger loses in third qualifying round of year’s first grand slam but could still make the main draw should there be withdrawals
Coleman Wong Chak-lam has not given up on his hopes of entering the main draw at the Australian Open, despite being beaten by Elias Ymer in the final qualifying round on Thursday.
Hongkonger Wong lost to the experienced Swede 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 15 minutes at Melbourne Park, failing to manage a third win in three days following straight-set victories over Ugo Blanchet and Pablo Llamas Ruiz in his opening qualifiers.
James Allemby, Wong’s coach, said the 21-year-old was downcast after narrowly missing a second grand slam main-draw appearance, following his run to last year’s US Open third round.
“He gave himself the best shot; he was a break up in the third and the moment was always going to be tough to manage for both players, but he had a great attitude and kept battling to the very end,” Allemby said.
Plans for Wong to compete in next week’s Soma Bay Challenger in Egypt have been abandoned.
“We’ll wait around [in Melbourne] in case we get a ‘lucky loser’ spot,” Allemby said.