Chung Hyeon continues to write new chapters in Korea's tennis history.
At the Australian Open the rising star defeats his American opponent to become the first Korean tennis player to head to the Grand Slam semi-finals.
Kim Mok-yeon with more.
On Wednesday, South Korean tennis player Chung Hyeon beat American Tennys Sandgren in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, becoming the first Korean to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament, and the first Asian man to make it to the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 86 years.
The match at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne... took two hours and 30 minutes... with Chung winning 6-4, 7-6, 6-3.
In the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings, Sandgren was ranked 97th going in and Chung was ranked 58th,... but the win is expected to push Chung into the world's top 30 players, which would break the record for Korean men set in 2007 by Lee Hyung-taik who ranked 36th.
At the age of 21, Chung is now the youngest Grand Slam semi-finalist in eight years, and the lowest-ranked Australian Open semi-finalist in 14 years.
The Korean tennis star earned prize money of nearly 711,000 U.S. dollars for entering the semi-finals, and some 40,000 dollars for the quarter finals which amount to more than 40 percent of his accumulated prize money before the games.
With the latest victory, Chung will face World number two Roger Federer on Friday.
If Chung wins that match, he will become the first Asian player to enter the men's finals in the Australian Open.
Kim Mok-yeon, Arirang News.
