Hyeon Chung made it to the semifinals last year at the Australian Open, giving the sport’s profile a massive boost in South Korea.
His run was more brief on return this year, beaten by Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-2, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a rain-interrupted second-round match. He lost in the first round in warm-up tournaments in Pune, India and Auckland, New Zealand.
“It was tough day for me today, he had a really good serve and then the rain came,” Chung said.
It was also a tough 2018 after Chung advanced to the semis at Melbourne Park and had to pull out of his match against Roger Federer with blisters while trailing 6-1, 5-2.