Top coach shares details of Hyeon Chung's injury - UBITENNIS

Top coach shares details of Hyeon Chung’s injury

By Alex Burton
3 Min Read
Chung had a great run, defeating the likes of Zverev, Djokovic, and Sandgren, though the foot injury proved too painful to complete his match with the defending champion (Zimbio.com)

The coach of 21 year-old star Hyeon Chung has revealed details about the nature of the injury that the young South Korean suffered in the Australian Open semi-finals against Roger Federer.

Neville Godwin, who has been working with Chung since the start of the year, explained that the injury was serious. “These are serious injections. Each one lasts like a minute. The guy is biting into a towel and you have to do it pretty close to match time otherwise it wears off. So 45 minutes before a match he’s biting into a towel having someone jab his feet.

Godwin: “We just basically ran out of time. He’s young and he’s had a great run, and its an unfortunate time for it to happen, but he managed it the best he could actually. He had three doctors, a podiatrist, and five trainers running aorund after him, sort of, the last 10 days.

Chung managed to defeat Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic, and most recently Tennys Sandgren in the quarter-finals. However, the severity of the injury increased in his first-ever meeting with Roger Federer, prompting his retirement.

Despite the injury, Chung’s lengthy run has done much to improve his ranking and reputation. The youngster will move into a career-high ranking on Monday. Godwin’s reputation as a world-class coach increases as well. The South African helped his countryman Kevin Anderson reach the US Open final last year. That achievement earned Godwin the ATP Coach of the Year award for 2017. Godwin and Anderson parted ways at the end of the 2017 season.

Chung has smashed a number of records in reaching the semi-finals. He became the first South Korean to reach that stage. His new ranking of No.29 will also be the highest ever achieved by a South Korean.

Leave a comment