Coleman Wong ‘ready’ to shoulder burden as Hong Kong, Finland tied at 1-1 in Davis Cup tie
City’s top player efficiently brushes aside world No 476 Eero Vasa in straight sets, but Nicholas Cheng is picked apart in 42 minutes
The first day of Hong Kong’s Davis Cup tie with Finland on Saturday taught nobody anything they did not already know, but one win for each team set up a cliffhanger of a second day when the hosts will be wholly reliant on leading player Coleman Wong Chak-lam.
Wong efficiently brushed aside outmatched world No 476 Eero Vasa in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, the day’s second rubber lasting only 58 minutes and leaving the 21-year-old “feeling great and ready for tomorrow”, when he will play two matches.
In Saturday’s first rubber at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium, after the Finland team had displayed a banner reading ‘No War’, Nicholas Cheng Siu-chi was brutally dismantled by Otto Virtanen, who dropped only one game to win 6-0, 6-1 in 42 minutes.
Cheng said he felt “so tight for the whole match”, but Yu Hiu-tung, the Hong Kong captain, pledged to stick with his plan to pair the 17-year-old with Wong for Sunday’s doubles, and send him out again for the final singles rubber.
“The results were what we expected,” Yu said. “We knew Nicholas’ match would be very tough; he needs time to get used to the crowd, quality and pace.
“He’s doing OK … I don’t think we need to change anything for tomorrow.”