The Korean tennis team, which will compete in the Davis Cup, the national men’s tennis competition, has pledged to advance to the round of 16 for the first time in history for two consecutive years.
National team coach Park Seung-gyu said at a pre-press conference held at the Olympic Park indoor tennis court in Songpa-gu, Seoul on the 2nd ahead of the 2023 Davis Cup Finals qualifiers (4 singles, 1 doubles) against Belgium, “Belgium is ranked higher than us, but our players are also against it. I’m not worried because I’m not behind,” he said. “I don’t know how the game will turn out depending on the condition of the day.
The national tennis team will face Belgium in the Davis Cup Tennis Finals qualifiers to be held on the tennis courts at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul on the 4th and 5th. 1st and 2nd singles will be held on the 4th, and doubles and 3rd and 4th singles will be held on the 5th.
The Davis Cup Finals is equivalent to the round of 16 in men’s tennis world. Twelve countries that have passed through the preliminaries, two countries that reached the finals of this year’s competition, and two wild card countries will be given the right to participate.
Korea defeated Austria 3-1 in the preliminary round of the finals held in March last year and advanced to the round of 16 for the first time in 15 years since 2007. In the group stage of the Finals finals, they were defeated by Canada, Serbia and Spain, and failed to advance to the quarterfinals with 3 losses.
If they beat Belgium this time, Korea will advance to the Davis Cup round of 16 for the fifth consecutive year and the first time in history. Korea advanced to the round of 16 at the Davis Cup in 1981, 1987, 2007 and 2022.
In the preliminaries against Belgium, the members who advanced to the round of 16 last year will continue. Ace Kwon Sun-woo (Dangjin City Hall, 61st), Hong Seong-chan (Sejong City Hall, 237th) is in charge of the singles runner, Song Min-gyu (KDB Industrial Bank, doubles 147th), and Nam Ji-seong (Sejong City Hall, doubles 152nd) are in the doubles group. expected to come true
In terms of objective power, it is evaluated that Belgium is ahead.
David Gopin (41st), who rose to 7th in the world rankings in 2017, is holding on, and Jiju Berris (115th) is also in the top 200. In addition to this, Lloris Drurer (211th) was also included.
Yoran Bligen and Sander Gilled, who are highly likely to play in doubles, are also ranked 53rd and 55th in the world doubles rankings, respectively.
However, the recent momentum in Korea is not bad either.
Ace Kwon Soon-woo won his second career title in the singles event at the 2nd Adelaide International Championship last month, setting a new record for the most singles wins by a Korean player on the Men’s Professional Tennis (ATP) Tour. Song Min-gyu and Nam Ji-seong also won the ATP Bangkok Open Challenger last month.
Ace Kwon Soon-woo expressed his aspirations, saying, “If there is a plan made while participating in this tournament, it is for Korea to win.” 카지노사이트
“After advancing to the round of 16 at the Davis Cup last year, we became confident that we could do it too. Winning the second tour singles was also a motivation,” he said. I am dreaming,” he said, revealing his determination to win.
Kwon Soon-woo, who has a high chance of facing Belgian ace Gopin, emphasized, “Gopin has a similar play style to me and has more experience.
Hong Seong-chan, who runs as a singles runner together, said, “I always don’t know how the match will go. I never thought I would lose when I competed,” he said.
Song Min-gyu said, “The Belgian doubles team has a lot of experience and a high ranking. They showed more players,” but added, “But it’s a game played in our home. Last year, in the Finals finals, we played on an equal footing with the doubles team. If you do as usual, it will be an opportunity to prove that what you showed me before is not a coincidence.”
Regarding the expected opponent, Song Min-gyu explained, “The opponent aggressively plays the net during the sub game. He also tries various changes during the return game.” Nam Ji-seong, who will work together, revealed his plan, “As the opponent tries a lot of irregularities, I try to be bold in the sub game.”