Doubles pairs see success at ITF Incheon, ATP Orlando tournaments

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Published: 13 Jun. 2022, 15:34

Doubles pairs see success at ITF Incheon, ATP Orlando tournaments

Chung Yun-seong, left, celebrates winning the men's doubles trophy at the ATP Orlando Open in Orlando, Florida on Saturday alongside Michail Pervolarakis of Greece. [YONHAP]

Han Na-lae [YONHAP]

Choi Ji-hee [YONHAP]

It was a good weekend for Korean tennis doubles, as Han Na-lae and Choi Ji-hee won an ITF International Women's Challenger trophy for the second week in a row on Saturday, while Chung Yun-seong and Michail Pervolarakis of Greece won the ATP Orlando Open.

Saturday started badly for Han at Yeorumul Tennis Court in Incheon, with the Korean tennis player losing the women's singles semifinals in two straight sets, 6-4, 7-6, to Carol Zhao of Canada.

But Han came back on the court a few hours later alongside her partner Choi and beat Ya-Hsuan Lee and Fang-Hsien Wu of Taiwan 2-1. The Korean pair conceded the first set 7-5 but was able to win the next set 6-4. The third set was played as a 10 point tiebreaker as the two sets were split 1-1. For doubles, the third set is rarely fully played.

Han and Choi reached 10 points first, winning their second trophy this month.

On June 4 at Changwon Municipal Tennis Court in Changwon, Han and Choi had won the women’s doubles trophy at the ITF Changwon International Women’s Tour beating the same Taiwanese pair Lee and Wu.

The two doubles trophies offer some consolation for Han, as she had missed out on the singles trophy at both events. At the ITF Changwon International Women’s Tour on June 5, Han lost the finals against Nara Kurumi of Japan 6-3, 6-1.

In Orlando, Florida, there was another Korean doubles player at play on Saturday, as Chung and Pervolarakis beat Kaichi Uchida of Japan and Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 3-2.

Despite conceding the first set 7-6, Chung and Pervolarakis were able to win the second set 7-6 then the third set tiebreaker 16-14.

The third set tiebreaker is usually 10 points, but the score was stretched to 16-14 because teams must win by two points in tiebreakers.

This is the first time that Chung has won an ATP Challenger Tour event, a second-tier tournament under the ATP Tour. Players earn ranking points on the ATP Challenger Tour to become eligible for the main draw or qualifying draw entry at ATP Tour tournaments. With the win, Chung jumps from No. 422 to No. 259.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]