Australian Open: Coleman Wong bows out of boys’ singles, but holds on for a spot in the doubles semi-finals
- Hong Kong tennis rookie ends a solid run the Australian Open junior singles tournament, losing to seventh seed Edas Butvilas
- Wong will now have the chance to make a splash in the doubles semi-finals with partner Bruno Kuzuhara
Coleman Wong ended a brilliant run in the Australian Open junior singles, bowing out to seventh seed Edas Butvilas but a win in the junior boys’ doubles has kept his Australian Open hopes intact.
On a blazing Australia Day match, Wong stepped up to face Butvilas for what would have been a spot in the quarter-finals and a personal record for the surging Hong Kong tennis rookie, but it was not to be.
Butvilas dodged four break points to steal the opening set 7-6 before cruising to a second-set victory with a convincing 6-1.
“Thanks for the support in singles,” Wong posted on social media after his loss, a reply to the support fellow Hong Kong athletes including Olympic medallist Siobhan Haughey have shown throughout his Australian Open run.
Over in the boys’ double tournament, however, it was a different story where second seeds Wong and Bruno Kuzuhara put on a spirited performance to advance through to the semi-finals, defeating Italian rivals Daniele Minighini and Niccolo Ciavarella 4-6, 6-0 (10-7).
Coming from behind, Wong and Kuzuhara took the second set in a tie breaker by forcing four errors from their Italian opponents. Wong and Kuzuhara will now meet third-seeded duo Gabriel Debru and Kilian Feldbausch in a semi-finals showdown on Thursday.
It will be a huge chance for the pair to book a spot in the finals and make history for the city yet again. Wong became the first player from Hong Kong to win a boys’ doubles grand slam title at last year’s US Open. The five-time ITF junior circuit singles winner kicked off his 2022 season with a semi-finals finish in the J1 Traralgon 2022 Tennis Tournament.
Meanwhile, the dynamic duo of Zhang Shuai and John Peers crashed out of the mixed doubles tournament after losing to fifth seeded pair Kristina Mladenovic of France and Croatian Ivan Dodig.
