Kwon Soon-woo looks to end season with a bang at U.S. Open

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Published: 25 Aug. 2022, 15:09

Kwon Soon-woo looks to end season with a bang at U.S. Open

Kwon Soon-woo hits a shot against Adrian Mannarino of France in second qualifying round at IGA Stadium in Montreal on Aug. 7. [USA TODAY/YONHAP]

Kwon Soon-woo is headed to Flushing Meadows in New York to play the final Grand Slam of the season, the U.S. Open starting Monday.

Over a two-week run starting Monday, the world's top tennis players will take to the hard courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, with Kwon appearing as the sole Korean in contention for the last Grand Slam title of the season. Jang Su-jeong, Korea's other potential contender, lost in two straight sets against Anastasia Zakharova in the first round of the women's singles qualifiers on Tuesday.

Kwon has had a busy season, competing in the men's singles and doubles events at all three Grand Slams so far, as well as 21 other competitions.nithe first round but only after putting up an impressive fight against top-seeded Novak Djokovic, who went on to win his seventh Wimbledon trophy.

At the most recent Grand Slam, Wimbledon in June, Kwon crashed out of the first round but only after putting up an impressive fight against top-seeded Novak Djokovic, who went on to win his seventh Wimbledon trophy.

At the time, rather than rolling over for a three-set drubbing — as might have been expected from at-the-time world No. 81 Kwon facing the top seeded Djokovic — the top Korean rose to the occasion, forcing the Serbian to four long sets, none of them easily won.

Djokovic took the first set 6-3, struggling to build momentum against the on-point Kwon. That was even more obvious in the second set, when Kwon put in a beautiful performance to take the set 6-3. Djokovic came back for another 6-3 in the third set before triumphing in a close-fought fourth set, 6-4.

Although the end result saw Kwon out of the tournament, his performance as he faced the top seed was still markedly impressive, pushing the match to two hours and 27 minutes and earning a warm standing ovation from a packed Centre Court crowd and praise from Djokovic himself.

Last May, when the Kwon first faced the Serbian, Djokovic beat Kwon in two straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, to win the Belgrade Open title. Compared to that, the four-set match that lasted two hours and 27 minutes at Wimbledon is a notable improvement on Kwon's side.

However, Kwon has struggled over the last five competitions. Kwon has failed to advance to the third round in any of the five tournaments since Wimbledon, most recently ending his run at the Winston-Salem Open after losing to Jason Kubler of Australia in two sets, 7-5, 6-2, in the round of 32 on Tuesday.

Before that, Kwon was eliminated in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters on Aug. 13 after losing to Fabio Fognini of Italy.

Kwon will be trying to overcome his recent shortcomings at his fourth Grand Slam of the year. Considering that he was still able to pull off that formidable performance at Wimbledon even after falling immediately out of the Libema Open held in S-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands without winning a single set, Kwon seems to have enough international experience under his belt to bounce back.

Kwon will also be hoping to go maybe even one step further at the U.S. Open. Kwon's best result at the tournament to date is reaching the second round in 2020, while his best-ever Grand Slam result was at last year's Roland Garros, where he reached the third round.

Kwon first emerged as a new Korean tennis hopeful in August 2019, when he became only the third Korean tennis player ever to get inside the top 100.

Before Kwon, Lee Hyung-taik was the first Korean to be ranked inside the top 100 in November 2000, when he was only 24 years old. Chung Hyeon made it in April 2015, when he was 19. Lee's highest ranking was No. 36, while Chung's was No. 19.

Kwon currently has one ATP Tour title, the Astana Open title that he won last September in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, becoming the first Korean to win an ATP Tour title since Lee, who won the Sydney International in 2003. Kwon and Lee are the only Koreans ever to win on the top-tier tour.

After winning his first ATP Tour title, Kwon reached a career high world ranking of No. 55. He is currently No. 81.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia wipes the sweat off during a training session at the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid on April 30. [AP/YONHAP]

However, at this year's U.S. Open it is unlikely that Kwon will meet Djokovic as it seems the world No. 6 will miss out on the Grand Slam because he has not been vaccinated for Covid-19.

Djokovic remains on the entry list for now, but because the United States Tennis Association (USTA) has pledged to adhere to government rulings surrounding Covid-19 protocols, the chances of the Serbian competing are slim.

A promotional poster posted on the U.S. Open Twitter account on Tuesday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A promotional poster revealed Tuesday lists the top four male and female players in the U.S. Open. The four pictured were defending champion Danil Medvedev, 22-time grand slam winner Rafael Nadal, Australian Nick Kyrgios and Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, but not Djokovic.

Just three weeks ago, Djokovic was forced to withdraw from the Canadian Open in Montreal for the same reason. Even at this year's Australian Open, Djokovic was unable to compete after being deported from Melbourne due to his vaccination status.

Serena Williams of the United States hits a backhand to Emma Raducanu of Britain during the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament on Aug. 16 in Mason, Ohio. [AP/YONHAP]

In the women's singles, 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams comes back on court at Flushing Meadows for one last hurrah as she prepares to retire.

"There comes a time in life when we have to decide to move in a different direction," Williams posted on social media on Aug. 8. "That time is always hard when you love something so much. My goodness do I enjoy tennis. But now, the countdown has begun."

Williams ends her career where it all began for her, having won her first-ever Grand Slam title at the 1999 U.S. Open.

The 40-year-old turned pro in 1995 when she was 14 and has been a trailblazer not just for women's tennis but for the entire sport.

Williams holds the second-most Grand Slam titles ever across all genders, having won seven Australian Open titles, three French Open titles, six U.S. Open titles and seven Wimbledon titles, for a total of 23. That is the most ever across both genders in the Open era, and even before the Open era it is beaten only by Margaret Court of Australia, with 24.

Back in 2017, when she won her seventh Australian Open title, Williams later revealed that she had been two months pregnant.

She also has 16 doubles Grand Slam titles, 14 in women's and two in mixed, having played the women's doubles with her sister Venus Williams, who will also be playing the upcoming U.S. Open as a wild card. The sisters also competed at the Olympics together, winning the women's doubles gold medals at Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008 and London 2012, while Serena also won singles gold for Team USA in London.

But in the last year since withdrawing from the first-round of Wimbledon 2021 due to an injury, Williams has struggled to find her form.

In June at this year's Wimbledon, what was meant to be the 40-year-old legend's grand return fell apart in the opening round against No. 115 Harmony Tan of France, who beat Williams two sets to one.

Then, on Aug. 8, Williams won her first singles match in 430 days, defeating Spain's Nuria Párrizas Díaz 6-4, 6-3, at the Canadian Open in Toronto. She lost against Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in two straight sets in the round of 32.

On Aug. 16, defending U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu of Britain beat Williams at the Cincinnati Masters, the last event before the U.S. Open.

"I've been reluctant to admit to myself or anyone else that I have to move on from playing tennis," Williams said in an interview with Vogue magazine on Aug. 9. "I'm evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me."

The qualifiers for the U.S. Open are have already underway, with the draw for the tournament expected on Thursday, or Friday in Korea.

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