Hong Kong retained their Davis Cup status as Coleman Wong Chak-lam and Kevin Wong Chun-hun beat their Zimbabwean doubles opponents in the World Group II play-off on Sunday.
The straight-sets win over siblings Benjamin and Courtney Lock at Victoria Park gave Hong Kong an unassailable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five tie to ensure the hosts avoided relegation from World Group II.
“I think we played well and Kevin helped me a lot on the court,” Coleman Wong said. “I am happy to be playing in group II still.
“The scoreline may suggest a comfortable win, but it wasn’t that easy. Both teams wanted to win but we performed better and were able to stick to our game plan.”
But from 4-2 down, the home pairing reeled off four straight games to snatch the opening set 6-4, turning the momentum around.
With about 60 per cent of the seats at Centre Court filled and fans rallying them, Wong and Wong outplayed the Locks in the second set, breaking the visitors three times to walk away 6-4, 6-0 victors in just over an hour.
“I love playing in front of the home fans, so that’s a big plus for us today,” 19-year-old Coleman Wong said. “There are more and more fans watching us play – some may even start playing tennis because of me, and that’s amazing.”
Kevin Wong admitted there were some nerves at the start.
“Knowing that a win would seal the tie for us made us a bit nervous,” the 28-year-old said. “It’s rare to see so many fans watching. There may not be such a crowd during a ATP 250 event.
“If there weren’t so many fans cheering us on, we may not have been able to come back after going down 3-1. The fans lifted us a lot – they deserve a hundred points.”
Ranked No 247 in the world, Coleman Wong plans to head to India for a tournament, but will first train in Hong Kong for a few days while he awaits a resolution to a visa problem.
