Chung out of French Open

Serena ready to deny convention

SEOUL, May 23, (Agencies): Tipped as one of the few men in the draw capable of beating Rafa Nadal at Roland Garros this year, rising South Korean talent Chung Hyeon was forced to pull out of the French Open with an ankle injury on Wednesday.

The Australian Open semifinalist said he had been carrying the problem through the clay season and would need significant time on the sidelines.

“Unfortunately I had to withdraw from Lyon yesterday and now Roland Garros,” the 21-yearold wrote on his Twitter account.

“I have been struggling with an ankle injury during the entire clay season. An MRI scan has revealed that I have build up of fluid in the ankle joint which might require a small procedure and then an extended period of rest.”

Chung gave Asian tennis a lift by reaching the last four at Melbourne Park in January before that campaign came to an end when the bespectacled right-hander retired injured due to blisters against eventual champion Roger Federer.

In addition to missing an event to let his blisters heal, Chung skipped a claycourt tournament in Houston and the Barcelona Open last month due to physical ailments.

Rising to a career high of 19th in the world last month, Chung reached the quarter-finals on the hardcourts of Delray Beach, Acapulco, Indian Wells and Miami before making it to the last four on clay at the Munich Open.

Standing 185 cm tall and weighing in at 83kg, he exhibits the same defensive solidity as his idol Novak Djokovic with an athleticism and power that have earned comparisons with the 10-times French Open champion Nadal.

Nicknamed “The Professor” because of his thick glasses, Chung is still adapting to the physical demands of life on the ATP Tour, however, and his all-action style puts a tremendous strain on his body.

Convention would have it that to succeed on the gruelling clay courts of Roland Garros requires playing a stack of matches and having miles in your legs.

But then Serena Williams has never been one to take too much notice of convention.

The 23-times grand slam singles champion will be back at Roland Garros having missed last year’s event as she prepared to have her first child, Alexis Olympia, who was born in September.

Following a tumultuous birth, when she needed emergency surgery after suffering a blood clot, just being back on the court is a remarkable achievement.

When she returned to the Tour in March, playing in Indian Wells and Miami, she looked short of fitness and form, going out in the third round and first round respectively.

Her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, admits she returned too soon but the pair have been working

Chung

hard together ever since.

At 36, Williams is chasing the record of 24 grand slam title wins, held by Australia’s Margaret Court, and if she lines up at Roland Garros, she will be fitter, fresh and dangerous.

“Serena will play the French Open to win it,” Mouratoglou told the WTA website recently.

“Can she do it? Serena can achieve anything — after being her coach for six years, I’m even more sure of that statement.”

It was the arrival of Mouratoglou as Williams’ coach in 2012 that sparked the most successful period of her career.

Having been knocked out of the French Open in the first round, Williams turned to the Frenchman to revive her fortunes; they have won