Taiwan set to face Hong Kong, Coleman Wong in Davis Cup

Taipei, Sept. 16 (CNA) Taiwan, led by veteran Jason Jung (莊吉生) is set to take on Hong Kong and its up-and-coming star Coleman Wong (黃澤林) this weekend in Taipei in a best-of-five tie in the Davis Cup World Group II tournament.

Wong, who reached the semifinals of the Boys' Singles at the 2022 US Open and finished his junior career ranked 12th in the world, said at the Taipei Tennis Center on Friday that he has improved over the past year and is excited to represent Hong Kong in the Davis Cup.

When asked about his preparation, Wong said he has been training since September 2021 at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain, which has exposed him to training methods that are different than what he has been used to in Hong Kong.

Throughout the course of his training, he has played in more European tournaments, as opposed to playing mostly in Asian tournaments in the past, said Wong, currently ranked 1,032nd in the world.

"It's been very different for me, but I feel I've improved quite a bit and I'm very excited to represent Hong Kong for this week's Davis Cup," Wong said.

Though the eyes of the media have been on the 18-year-old as he represents a new hope for Hong Kong, which has not had much success in the sport, expectations may have to be tempered as he is only 4-9 in singles matches on the ITF Futures Tour so far this year.

Based on the draw determined at Friday's press event, he will take on the 33-year-old Jung, ranked 431st in the world, in the opening singles on Saturday, a match that will be followed by Taiwan's Wu Tung-lin (吳東霖) against Wong Hong Kit (王康傑) of Hong Kong.

The Sunday doubles will pit youngsters Ray Ho (何承叡) and Hsu Hsiao-yu (許育修) of Taiwan against Coleman Wong and Wong Chun Hun (黄俊鏗) of Hong Kong, and be followed by singles matches pitting Wu against Coleman Wong and Jung against Wong Hong Kit, if necessary.

All of the weekend's matches will be best-of-three sets. The winner will get a chance to play in the World Group I playoffs early next year to earn promotion to World Group I, while the loser will compete in the World Group II playoffs.

The Davis Cup was founded 122 years ago and is the largest annual team competition in the sport, with 143 teams taking part this year.

It has gone through several format changes and now uses a streamlined format with shorter matches and fewer ties to reduce the strain on top players.