Wong To Make ATP Tour Debut In Native Hong Kong

Hong Kong, China Tennis Association

A philosophy of trailblazing Hong Kong talent Coleman Wong Chak Lam is to view every triumph he has achieved in his career as a stepping stone towards a life he has dreamed of.

After a promising junior career which included success in the Orange Bowl and also in doubles events at Grand Slams, the teenager is starting to make his mark at the professional level.

Over the past year, the 19-year-old has claimed two titles on the ITF Tour and more recently made some promising runs on the ATP Challenger Tour as he continues on an upward trajectory.

But the biggest moment of his fledgling career will take place in the first week of the new season when Wong competes in the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open at the Victoria Park Tennis Centre.

It is a significant moment for Hong Kong, which is welcoming professional men’s tennis back to the region for the first time in 21 years.

But it is also a milestone for Wong, who first picked up a tennis racquet at Victoria Park and will now play in his first ATP Tour event there after receiving a wild card into the tournament.

He said it was a thrill to feature in a main draw that includes stars like Marin Cilic, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov, who claimed the 2023 Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships title in September.

“Wow. It is exciting,” Wong said. “I grew up watching these guys on TV, players like Rublev, and Cilic and Khachanov and all those guys.

“I’m really excited to be playing and actually maybe try to win a few matches. That'd be great.”

Wong, who fell in love with tennis aged five when he stepped in to take a lesson in place of his sister at Victoria Park, is on a steep learning curve. But he demonstrated throughout 2023 that he deserves an opportunity at ATP Tour level.

In September he was successful in an ITF event in his home city, an opportunity that allowed him to showcase his burgeoning skill set to family and friends.

It was a hard-fought triumph, for Wong was a point away from losing in every match he played in the tournament. It emphasised to him the importance of never giving up.

“That tournament changed my mentality a little bit, I think,” he said.

“I began to understand the game more. I feel like I grew up [and started to] get a bit more mature in terms of my mentality.”

His form on the ATP Challenger Tour had also been impressive, with Wong jumping from a Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 743 at the start of 2023 to his current position of No. 253.

In a busy finish to last season, Wong reached Challenger finals in Shenzhen and also Playford, Adelaide, and performed well in other Challenger events through Australia and Japan.

Among those he either defeated or tested were “tough Aussies” Thanasi Kokkinakis, James Duckworth and Rinky Hijikata, who reached the fourth round of the US Open in September.

“It was crazy, because there were so many Aussies. But I will say it again, I actually got to know myself a little bit more once again,” he said.

“Playing those Challengers was good. I had to win like three or four matches, real intense matches, to get through all the way to the final.

“I think in Shenzhen I had a great result making it to my first final ever. I beat the Frenchman [Terence Atmane) who was a Top 120 player. It was a crazy week.

“And then I went to the Playford Challenger and played all these tough Aussies. It was great for my development.”

His biggest thrill to date came when representing Hong Kong in the Asian Games in late September, when he beat 2023 Dallas Open winner Wu Yibing on the way to the quarter-finals.

“It was a huge moment, especially as I was, like, No. 400 in the world and Wu was around No. 70,” he said.

“I just wanted to go out and just perform and give everything and enjoy the moment, playing in front of a huge crowd which was screaming. It was a really crazy experience. I really enjoyed it.”

The right-hander, who won his first ITF title in Monastir in July, enjoyed a brief break at home after a busy season before heading to Spain to prepare for the new year.

Wong has been based at Rafael Nadal’s academy for the past couple of years, realising that in order to make the most of his talent, he needed to be training in an elite environment.

“Honestly, it is tough, because I'm a long way from my home. I always love to go back there,” he said.

“But I feel like this is really good for my development, especially at this time of my career. I have just started transitioning from juniors to professionals. I need a lot of, I would say, experience like this. I have to train to learn a lot because I still need to improve a lot.

“It's really important, especially when there's a lot of really good players that are a bit higher level than me at the moment.

“There are people here ranked in the Top 100, and there is obviously Rafa here as well, and there's a lot of different players coming over, so I can train with them a lot and learn a lot from them.”

Wong is eager to learn more, but also feels he is well placed to perform well in the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open.

He contested an exhibition in Hong Kong late in 2022 which drew top-tier talent and he loved the experience of competing in front of his home crowd.

As the highest-ranked Hong Kong player in history, the wild card is certain to be well-supported and he is looking forward to giving his best in front of family and friends.

It will serve as another stepping stone to what he hopes will be a fruitful season in 2024.

“I like playing in front of crowds, so I think I'll be ready. I'm ready to do my best and see what I can do,” he said.

“And then I would love to play all the Grand Slams, obviously. I’m really close now. My ranking is No. 253 and I need to be maybe Top 230 to play qualifying.

“That's the goal. And my goal is to finish in the Top 100 and maybe go to the 2024 Olympics.”