The battle of two youngsters was something to keep an eye on at the All England Club as Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert went up against Korean teenager Hyeon Chung. Chung broke his way into the top 100 through playing Challenger events and winning titles there as well. He broke in before the French Open, but just missed the cutoff date forcing him to play the qualifiers instead of a direct entry into the main draw. Wimbledon represented Chung’s first ever Grand Slam main draw, and he was looking to make an impression.
A break at love showed us how talented the Korean is, especially on the backhand side. Some say he might resemble Asian tennis elder statesman, Kei Nishikori, in that department. After a straightforward hold, he broke Herbert again to go up a double break and consolidated after saving two break points to go up 4-0. All the Herbert could manage was one game as Chung broke him for a third time to take the opening set 6-1.
Just like Konta did against Sharapova, Herbert came out firing to open the second to earn a quick break. The script was reversed from first to second as it was not the Frenchman who got up to a 4-0 start. Just like the opener, the player who was down 0-4 held to get on the board as Chung made it 1-4. Unlike the first set however, Chung broke for 2-4 and all of a sudden a hold for 3-4 would’ve put an immense amount of pressure on the Frenchman’s shoulders. It was the Korean who cracked though as he was broken for a third time in the set. Herbert finished off the set with a hold to even up the match at a set apiece.
For the first time to start a set, they started off with four consecutive holds. Finally, someone broke in this set- it took awhile to be fair- and it was Chung who got up the break to go up 4-2. He would follow that up by holding to move within a game of a two sets to one lead. The Korean teenager served for the set at 5-3, but a few untimely errors allowed Herbert back in the game going from three set points down to deuce. After a few more deuce points, Chung held for a 6-3 set to go up two sets to one.
Much like the second set, Herbert once again was off to a flier of a start to begin the fourth set. The 24-year-old Frenchman kicked off the fourth with three consecutive games before the teenager could get on the board with a hold. Chung could not find himself getting into Herbert’s service games as the Frenchman looked to try and force a fifth. A break to cap off the set for the 24-year-old, and we were heading five.
Herbert opened up the fifth set and got himself into some trouble early on. He was forced to save a few break points but ended up holding. The teenager broke the door open with a break in the third game and consolidating it would mean trouble for Herbert. Chung did just that, but Herbert held to keep in touch in the fifth. At 3-2 up, the Korean found himself in a hole as Herbert had a break chance at 30-40. He fended it off as Herbert dumped a slice backhand into the net. Chung made the Frenchman pay for not capitalizing on the opportunity as he would move within two games of taking the match. Time and time again in the seventh game, Herbert kept fighting off break points as Chung could not convert on multiple break point opportunities. Despite seeing multiple break points, the teen dropped the seventh game as Herbert found his first serve when he needed it to keep within a game of the teen.
Chung looked to go up 5-3 and move a game away from the match, but the Frenchman dug in and won five straight points from 0-40 down to nod things up a four apiece. All of a sudden, Chung found himself from one point from being a game away from the match to serving for his tournament life down 4-5. Nevertheless, Chung did not falter to the pressure of serving to stay in the match as he held at 15 for 5-all.
Both players had a nice spell of easy serving until serving for 7-all in the match. He was pushed to deuce until he finally held. Chung found himself in a 0-30 hole down 7-8 but a drop shot winner and a few errors from Herbert put the Korean right back in it. Chung found himself forced to save a break point down 8-9, 30-40, but he came up with the goods with a big serve and backhand to extend it to deuce. Despite that, it was third time’s the charm for Herbert as Chung hit the ball into the net giving the Frenchman fifth and final set 10-8 in 76 minutes. Herbert completed his comeback from two sets to one taking the match 1-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, 10-8. Next up for Herbert is Bernard Tomic who also came back from a two sets to one deficit against Jan-Lennard Struff.