He became the first player representing Hong Kong, China to make the third round of an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, beating world number 14 Ben Shelton in the second round before losing to Adam Walton.
Wong, currently ranked 182 in the world, said he’s glad he managed to prove the doubters wrong with his play – and that it’s possible for someone from the SAR to beat a top-20 player.
“I want to very much thank everyone in Hong Kong for their support. You all motivated me a lot. Especially the doubters – they always seem to say, oh you’re not good enough. There isn’t a tennis player from the SAR who is able to shine on the world stage, and beat a top 20 player,” he told reporters at the airport after returning to the SAR.
“So I want to tell everyone that it’s possible.”
The 20-year-old has trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain. He said he’s very grateful that the tennis legend had called him to offer his congratulations.
“That was super. He found my agent asking for my number, and he called me on his own number. Nadal texted me his congratulations. He says he hopes I can keep going as he thought I gained a lot for Hong Kong,” Wong said.
“He called me a world-class player.”
Wong said he now plans to play in the Barcelona and Madrid Opens, saying his coaching team think he’s ready for more action on the clay.
He also explained that he drank some coke during matches because he was a bit tired and he wasn’t into coffee, so the coaching staff said he could down the soft drink for some caffeine.
Wong said he felt physically drained when he was playing in the third round as he wasn’t used to the grind at major competitions. He said that’s an area he will look to make improvements on.
