ATP Tour

Wong, who nearly quit tennis as a teen, is making his breakthrough

Coleman Wong is forging a unique path in professional tennis. Coming from Hong Kong, without a deep tennis infrastructure or a pipeline of pro players, the 21-year-old is blazing his own trail, built on two defining traits: belief and persistence.

Wong this month became the first player from Hong Kong to win an ATP Challenger title. Now, he is competing in the Roland Garros main draw for the first time and on the verge of making his Top 100 debut in the PIF ATP Rankings.

What has helped Wong close the gap between him and players from more established tennis nations?

“It’s to always believe. It’s kind of boring, everyone says it, but it’s actually really true for me,” Wong told ATPTour.com. “No matter where you’re from, it’s most important to believe that you can actually make it. Even though nobody else did it before from where I am. I had really nobody to look up to from where I’m from.”

That belief, however, was tested. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, a 15-year-old Wong hardly touched a racquet for 14 months. Pandemic restrictions were in place and local tennis courts were closed. Wong still devoted himself to unpleasant fitness training.

“I was just running laps. I couldn’t do much. We were just doing laps and sometimes we could do different stuff, but mainly running,” said Wong, a lucky loser in Paris who faces Alexander Blockx in the opening round. “We went to the park and half of the park was blocked because of the restrictions.

“Then, to see all the other players start playing tournaments... It was tough. I couldn’t even leave my home. I didn’t know what to do. It was the toughest time, for sure.”

Throughout that 14-month stretch, there were moments when Wong considered giving up on his dream.

^{Coleman Wong (right) and coach James Allemby hold the Jiujiang Challenger trophy. Credit: Jiangxi Open}

“I was thinking to actually stop tennis during Covid because it was just too tough,” Wong said. “My parents actually told me to go to university in Hong Kong and just see if there’s another way because we didn’t know how long it was going to be if I can continue tennis like that.

“The toughest part is you don’t know when you can start. You don’t know what you need to do. You cannot control it.”

Wong’s first tournament after that difficult span of limited training was in 2021: the Roland Garros junior event. Fast forward five years and Wong is now among the field of 128 players in Paris, where he is competing in his second major tournament.

In 2021, a few months after his return to competition, Wong began training at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain. “They really shaped how I am after Covid,” he said.

For a player who has long carried big ambitions from a young age, Wong’s hard work is paying dividends, and he is just beginning his career.

Last year, Wong reached the third round of the US Open as a qualifier before falling to 15th seed Andrey Rublev in five sets. He began this season with a memorable maiden tour-level quarter-final run at his home ATP 250 in Hong Kong. Wong matched that feat in Delray Beach.

Wong’s latest breakthrough was a title run at the Jiujiang Challenger.

“I feel like these are things that are part of where I want to be in the future. It’s one of those steps,” Wong said of his Jiujiang triumph. “It’s like, ‘Okay, now I want to be like this, I want to achieve this’, and it’s more like a stage for me.”

Turning 22 years old on 6 June, the No. 113 player in the PIF ATP Rankings overcame the hurdle of a championship match at ATP Challenger level. He had lost five Challenger finals before being crowned champion in China. But like anything Wong has faced throughout his journey, the Hong Kong native has rarely wavered in his belief.

“For sure you doubt yourself a lot, but it’s how you overcome it,” Wong said. “I think everyone, even the best in the world, have a lot of things going on and it’s the way you accept it and live with it. Trying to perform as much as you can. That’s how you become the best and I’m still trying to learn from all the best players in the world.”