September 4th 2015
By Jillian Wright
At noon local time today around the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, there were easily dozens of matches spread out for one to enjoy. One could have easily walked past Louis Armstrong Stadium where Wawrinka was just warming up for this match against the up and comer Hyeon Chung in pursuit of a less lopsided match. As it turned out however, it was anything but lopsided as one may have expected. Wawrinka emerged in straight sets to victory (7-6, 7-6, 7-6), but it was a very hard battle that demonstrated the level of competition the players face at the year’s final Grand Slam.
Hyeon Chung hails from South Korea, and at 19 years of age had just turned pro last year. He is already ranked #69, yet has stayed relatively unknown on tour. The way the match unfolded, it was obvious the young Korean had yet to register on the Swiss’s radar as well until today. They both wore blue for their match, and it would be easy to mistakenly assume the similarities ended there. For Chung, without the sort of fancy endorsements afforded to Grand Slam Champions, was using a discontinued Dunlop M 3.0 racket without stencil. But he pushed the #5 seed to the brink over and over again in a very tense 2nd round match.
From the very first ball Chung was hitting big right away going for his shots, which Stan responded in kind. One quickly saw why the underdog has risen so high in the rankings after just a year on tour, as he showed good anticipation, quick footwork, and early preparation on both wings to hit with pace. The man from Switzerland was unfazed however, and quickly broke for a 2-0 lead. Unable to put Stan’s big serving in play, Chung quickly fell behind 0-3. It looked like a routine match at this point for the fairly empty stadium in Armstrong, which boasts a very intimate atmosphere.
Not to be discouraged, Chung continued to pound his groundstrokes, and managed to get on the scoreboard. Then, just like that, Wawrinka sprayed a forehand out of the air easily 10 ft out, and then committed another unforced error to give back the break. It became evident that the Swiss was playing tight with plenty of nerves, as Chung continued to play his high risk low percentage game, which paid off when Stan floated a slice long to level at 3-3. In the next game, Chung held onto the momentum by securing his first break point chance, but a forehand clips the net and landed out to give Stan the hold. With the set back on serve, Wawrinka began to play very odd, taking all pace off with sliced shots off both wings, and it looked like he was changing the game plan to throw off his opponent’s rhythm. Chung remained unfazed, and holds easily. Scraping the new tactic, Stan immediately goes back to hitting big on his service game which pushed Chung way back from the baseline. Even then, he had to serve 3 straight aces just to hold. Although Chung was consistently hitting 2nd serves, Stan never sought to capitalize on the Korean’s weakest point, instead choosing to slice the return. He then allowed the first ace from Chung to take the set to a tiebreak.
The buzz was beginning to fill the air around the grounds at this point. Trying to assert himself, Stan finally started to play pro actively, much like Chung had been doing all match. When it came to both guys crushing the ball, the distinction was revealed: the younger player lacked the consistency of his elders. Chung began to miss his high risk shots, one down the line followed by yet another backhand into the net to give Stan the set.
The 2nd set Stan continued to show signs of nerves, and gave Chung the early break for 2-0, then 3-0. Struggling to hold, Stan saved a handful of break points to make it 3-1. His body language remained very negative, and combined with sluggish footwork Chung found himself up 4-1. It wasn’t until the 7th game during a long backhand exchange that seemed to wake up the Swiss back into the match, and he converted the break point at 0-40 to 3-4. It was back on serve. At 5-5 however, Stan squandered another break point chance and was forced to hold serve for another tiebreak. Once again, Chung kept to the game plan with big hitting and risky play, which was perfect against the frustrated and unmotivated Swiss, but the lack of execution secured the bow on the gift box to Stan once more.
The 3rd set saw the stadium packed now, as many wanted to witness the inspired play opposite the bottled frustration for the last 2 hours. In the 2nd game, Stan missed a break point chance and showed his growing frustration by tossing the racket. The negative body language continued, as Stan remained passive staying far behind the baseline even on 2nd serve returns, content to slice it back down the middle. Here both players seemed to feel the weight of the match, trading rally balls crosscourt back and forth and kept games on serve. This went on for 9 whole games, especially for Stan who looked like he was merely going through the motions. (It is fair to point out that he could hit one hand backhands in his sleep). Finally at 6-5 Chung’s forehand clips the net which lured Stan out of his sleep to the net, and he earned match point. Chung refused to go away quietly, and woke up as well, saving break points to take it to yet another tiebreak. The two then chose to gift each other mini breaks. At 5-6, ad side, Stan gathered the courage he needed all match, and hit a massive kicker out wide to stay in the set. He followed it up with a forehand winner down the line for match point. This time, he secured the set, and the win. It was, as anyone watching would conclude easily, too close for comfort.
