South Korean trailblazer Hyeon Chung returns from two-year injury lay-off in Seoul

It was only a few years ago that South Korea’s Hyeon Chung was one of the fastest-rising young stars in the sport. He won the Next Gen ATP Finals at the end of 2017—which included wins over Daniil Medvedev and Denis Shapovalov, as well as two wins over Andrey Rublev—then reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open at the start of 2018, as well as his first two Masters 1000 quarterfinals at Indian Wells and Miami. He even broke into the Top 20 after Miami, rising to No. 19.

But then, the injuries began.

Not only was he not even able to compete at the next two majors after his run in Australia, missing Roland Garros and Wimbledon with an Achilles injury, but he also struggled throughout 2019 with a back injury, missing those same two majors again. And since the fall edition of Roland Garros in 2020 he’s been out with a back injury.

Until this week, that is—Chung is back, playing doubles at the ATP 250 event in Seoul alongside current South Korean No. 1, Soonwoo Kwon.

“It has taken me a long time to return to the court after rehabilitation, but I just feel good as I am able to come back to the court,” Chung said in his pre-tournament press conference this week, translated from Korean to English.

“No matter what the result will be, I will do my best.”

This isn’t the first time Chung has tried to return to the tour over the last two years.

“I made several attempts to return to the court after consulting with my team, but due to the recurrence of the back injury, I had repeated rehab and return attempts. Currently, I have less pain on the court and feel comfortable enough to play in Korea.

"I believe that this is the best timing for my return.”

He says he may have also learned how to prevent injuries in the future: “The biggest thing I learned was how to understand my body and how to recover. In the past, I used to take the training and treatment after matches passively, but during the rehabilitation I tried to learn how to take care of my body and how to recover.”

What Chung achieved in Australia in 2018 was historic. He wasn’t just the first South Korean player, male or female, to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam, he was actually the first to even reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. That run also propelled him from No. 58 to No. 29, making him the highest-ranked South Korean player in ATP rankings history (surpassing former No. 36 Hyung-Taik Lee). And then, of course, he became the first South Korean to reach the Top 20 on the ATP rankings.

His goals for the future are much humbler, though, at least for now.

After this week, he’s planning on playing a pair of Challenger events in South Korea, one in Seoul in two weeks and then another one in Busan the week after.

“I was lost how to set goals after being away from the court for two years,” he said. “For now, the first goal is not to make any injury—then I will think about goals.”

In his press conference, Chung was also asked about Roger Federer, who played the last event of his career at the Laver Cup over the weekend. Federer is actually a major part of Chung’s story—when Chung reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2018, beating the likes of Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic along the way, it was Federer who he faced, retiring in that match due to blisters.

“As Federer is the greatest player in the history of sports beyond the tennis, I'm very honored to be named in the list of draws in the same tournaments he played. It is truly heartbreaking that we won't see him on the court anymore. He is the greatest player ever in the history. Many players have dreamed of becoming him."

Chung was then asked if he had any message for his fans who’ve been awaiting his return for two years now. “Please let us have a lot of support from you,” he said.

“I will do my best to give you a good result!”

Chung ended up winning his first match back alongside Kwon on Wednesday: