Chung denies Cilic landmark win in Tokyo
Marin Cilic will have to wait for a 500th tour-level win after he was knocked out of the Japan Open by an inspired Hyeon Chung.
Hyeon Chung will face David Goffin in the quarter-finals of the Japan Open after denying Marin Cilic a milestone victory.
Cilic was expected to claim the 500th tour-level win of his career in Tokyo on Thursday, but Chung beat the sixth seed 6-4 3-6 6-1.
Chung, absent for much of this season due to a back injury, had not won a set in his previous three meetings with Cilic, yet the unseeded South Korean pulled off an upset to move into the last eight.
Cilic had a first-serve percentage of only 57 and double-faulted seven times to bow out of his first tournament since the US Open.
Ohhh YESS, @HyeonChung
@TennisTV | @rakutenopen pic.twitter.com/dNlgLKaZRY
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 3, 2019
Chung said: “I’m just really happy because this is one of the best wins in my career so far. It was a really tough match against one of the best players in the world. I’m just trying to enjoy every point.”
Goffin, winner of this tournament two years ago, got past Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-2).
There were no breaks of serve in a tight contest between the third seed and 20-year-old Shapovalov, but it was the Belgian who had the edge in the tie-breaks.
Qualifier John Millman went through with a 6-3 6-2 win over Lloyd Harris, while Taro Daniel defeated Jordan Thompson 6-4 7-6 (7-3).
