Kwon Soon-woo crashes out of Australian Open two days after win in Adelaide

Kwon Soon-woo plays a backhand return to Christopher Eubanks during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia on Monday. [AP/YONHAP]

Just two days after winning the second ATP title and rising to a career-high world No. 52, Kwon Soon-woo crashed out of the 2023 Australian Open on Monday, losing in five sets to world No. 116 Christopher Eubanks.

Kwon struggled across five tight sets with the American wildcard pick, losing the opening set 6-3, then rallying to take the second 7-6 after a tiebreaker. Eubanks won the third set 6-3, with Kwon taking the fourth 6-4 and the American coming back to take the decider 6-4.

Kwon arrived at the Korea Open just two days after beating Roberto Bautista Agut in the final of the Adelaide International 2 to claim his second ATP title.

That victory, which saw him pass beat a number of higher-ranked players en route to the final, may have taken it out of the 25-year-old Korean player, leaving him too tired to properly contest the first round at the Australian Open.

The proximity of the two Adelaide tournaments is something of a blessing and a curse for tennis players.

Adelaide International 1, played two weeks before the Australian Open, draws a lot of the world’s top players looking to warm up ahead of the first major of the tennis season.

Adelaide International 2, however, is a far tougher ask, finishing just days before the Australian Open kicks off. As such, many of the top major contenders tend to skip the second tournament to focus on preparing for Melbourne.

Kwon crashed out of Adelaide International 1, losing to Jack Draper of Britain in the early rounds of the tournament. A week later he got his redemption, beating Draper in the semifinals at Adelaide International 2 to earn his spot in the final.

Draper also crashed out of the Australian Open on Monday after facing an especially tough draw in Rafael Nadal in the opening round.

Kwon was the only Korean player to reach the Australian Open proper this year. In the women’s singles tournament, both Jang Su-jeong and Han Na-lae made it through the first round of qualifiers but fell in the second round.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]