Despite a near hour-long rain delay, gloomy conditions didn’t stop eager fans from catching a glimpse of the city’s young stars in action as the SAR looked to build upon previous success at their World Group II tie against Uzbekistan last September.
The sky cleared and play finally began when Hong Kong’s Nicholas Cheng – the SAR’s top-ranked junior player – took on Otto Virtanen in the first singles match of the day.
Virtanen, ranked 116th in the world, came out the gate swinging from the start, jumping to an early 4-0 lead 15 minutes into the first set.
Cheng was ultimately unable to stave off blistering serves from his Finnish opponent, who raced through the next two games for a bagel 6-0 win 10 minutes later.
It was a similar affair in the second set, with Virtanen claiming a quick 6-1 victory to wrap up the best-of-three contest in 43 minutes for a 1-0 lead in the tie.
“It was a pretty new experience for me… many people out here supporting me,” said Cheng, 17, who was playing in front of a big home crowd for the first time.
Cheng said local support helped push him mentally, but added that there were moments of pressure to perform at the highest level in the first match of the day.
“It’s a bit of motivation for me, but also a lot of pressure,” he said. “But I’m trying to get used to it.”
Wong, Hong Kong’s top-ranked player, then stepped up hoping to turn the tide for the local side in the second singles match against Eero Vasa.
And he did just that, capitalising on a string of early errors from his 476th-ranked opponent for a 4-2 advantage after 22 minutes, bringing life back into a roaring home crowd draped in bright red.
Wong needed 35 minutes to claim the opening set 6-4
The second saw a more resilient Vasa, but Wong’s scorching aces proved too fierce for his Finnish counterpart en route to a 6-2 triumph that levelled the tie at one game apiece.
“It was a good match for me to get used to everything and the conditions,” Wong said after the one hour, two minute contest.
“He’s [Vasa] not an easy opponent, Wong added. “He’s got a good serve, he’s very good coming forward… I managed to execute my tactics really well today, to be more solid and let him do all the work. He misses quite often after that, so I think my quality of ball was really high today.”
As the SAR’s most experienced Davis Cup campaigner, Wong, 21, said he embraces the role of leading younger members of the squad to new levels in their game.
“It’s a special feeling,” said Wong. “Hopefully they can follow their footsteps and see what they can do. It’s not about where you’re from, it’s totally because of you.
“If people always say you can’t make it because you’re from Hong Kong, I don’t think so. I just want to prove them wrong, that even if we’re from here, such a small city… we can still achieve big things.”
The action continues on Sunday with doubles and reverse singles, as both sides look to pull ahead for a spot in September’s World Group I.
