It is the first time in 14 years since Jo Yun-jung at the 2007 US Open that she won a major women’s singles set.
Jang Su-jeong, who is ranked as the best female pro tennis player in Korea. yunhap news
We lost, but we had a good fight. Jang Su-jeong (210th, Daegu City Hall), who advanced to the final of the first major tournament in her life, unfortunately lost in the first round of the women’s singles at the Australian Open tennis tournament (total prize money of AUD 75 million, regarding 64.4 billion won).
In the first round of the women’s singles final on the second day of the tournament held in Melbourne, Australia on the 18th, Jang Su-jeong lost to Danka Kovinic (98th, Montenegro) 1-2 (3-6 6-2 4-6) following 3 hours and 10 minutes.
On this day, his opponent, Kobinich, fought well as a strong man who climbed to 46th in the world rankings in 2016. Jang Su-jeong’s personal best ranking differs from 2017 to 120.
Jang Su-jeong had a game score of 1-5 at the beginning of the first set, but following breaking Kovinich’s sub-game for the first time and catching up with 2-5, he defended his own sub-game and caught the break point once more in the opposing sub-game.
In the end, he gave up the game and gave up the first set 3 to 6, but with the rising trend in the second half of the set, Jang Su-jeong, who had the confidence that ‘it’s worth trying’, started a counterattack in the second set.
After winning the first sub game once morest the two-set opponent, Su-jeong Jang ran away 3-0, eventually taking the second set with a score of 6-2, balancing the set score one-to-one.
Just by winning a set, he left a big mark in the Korean tennis world. A Korean player won a set in the women’s singles final of a major tournament in August 2007, when Cho Yun-jeong in the first round of the US Open defeated 75th world ranking Roudes Dominguez Liño (Spain) 1 to 2 (6-3 3-6 3-6). This is the first time in 14 years and 5 months since Jang Su-jeong was defeated by .
After the second set, Kovinich lay on the court floor and called a medical time-out, and the mood of the game seemed to shift towards Jang Su-jeong.
However, Jang Su-jeong gave up both of his first two sub games in the 3rd set at the end of the deuce and was dragged 0-3. Again, Jang Su-jeong won two games in a row, and took breakpoints twice in the opponent’s sub-game that followed, but in the end, it was not possible to make a 3-3, and the part that opened 2-4 was a disappointment.
On this day, Sujeong Jang was slightly behind in the overall stroke power battle, with a difference of 168 km and 180 km for Kobinich at the maximum speed of the sub, but it was clear that Jang Su-jeong was able to confirm his skills in the world championships.
In the meantime, Jang Su-jeong, who has tried 11 times in the qualifiers for major tournaments but never made it to the finals, achieved her dream of qualifying for the majors by winning three consecutive qualifiers at this year’s Australian Open, her 12th challenge.
Jang Su-jeong received a cash prize of 103,000 Australian dollars (88 million won) for advancing to the finals of this tournament. In particular, it is expected to rise to the 180th place in the world rankings following this competition is over.
The most recent case in which a Korean player won the women’s singles final at a major event was in the second round of the US Open in September 2005, when Yoon-jung Jo defeated Gisela Dulco (Argentina) 2-0 (6-4 6-3).
Jang Su-jeong raised expectations for the future by writing new possibilities through her achievements at the Australian Open.
Meanwhile, Kwon Soon-woo, hope of Korean tennis, will play the second round once morest Denis Shapovalov (23) of Canada on the 19th. At the 2020 U.S. Open, they lost 1-3 to Shapovalov. Shapovalov is two years younger than Kwon Soon-woo, but he is ranked 14th, 40 places higher.
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