Bogeyman Chung set to give rivals nightmares, says personal coach

Melbourne: Nightmares loom for players dreaming of grand slam success if they have the misfortune of running into bespectacled bogeyman Chung Hyeon in coming years, according to his coach Neville Godwin. South Korea’s new sensation became his country’s first grand slam semi-finalist on Wednesday with a 6-4 7-6(5) 6-3 defeat of Tennys Sandgren, proving a waking bad dream for the 97th-ranked American at the Rod Laver Arena.

Like victims Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic before him, Sandgren hammered away desperately at Chung, only for the unseeded Korean to keep returning with a zombie-like resolve. Unspoken of before the tournament among the lists of contenders, let alone the top young guns, Chung will battle defending champion and 19-times grand slam winner Roger Federer in one of the more unlikely semi-final match-ups.

“Obviously, he moves around the court incredibly well, and he’s incredibly flexible,” said Godwin, who began working with the 58thranked Chung last year. “Everyone has their strengths, but for Hyeon, I think it would be a nightmare to play against him because he basically out-djokovic-ed Djokovic (on Monday) which is something that not that many people have been able to do.”

Chung’s blazing run through the Melbourne Park draw has appeared like a bolt from the blue on the surface, but the 21-year-old has shown flickerings of promise for a number of years. The parts have all clicked in a devastating way in Melbourne over the past fortnight but the best is yet to come as he matures and enjoys more structure to his scheduling.