Wong, who returned to the city on Monday morning, also thanked the support from fans, adding he wished to take a short break from tennis before gearing up for the Davis Cup later this month.
Speaking to reporters at the airport, he described his eye-opening experience in New York, where he came through three qualifying rounds to reach the main draw and then beating two higher-ranked opponents to set up the third-round tie against 15th-seeded Rublev.
He recalled going through a five-set match for the first time in his career, while playing in front of a near-capacity crowd inside the Grandstand with more than 7,000 seats filled.
“I was really tired, even by the fourth set, because I had already played so many games,” he said.
“But I think it’s easier for Rublev to cope with fatigue because he’s used to playing a lot. I don’t have enough experience yet, so I think this is a good lesson – I can do better next time.”
Wong added he sought advice from Taylor Fritz, the American world number four and the runner-up in New York last year, on how to deal with long matches.
The 21-year-old vowed to learn from the experience and come back stronger, even setting his sights on winning a Grand Slam one day.
But for now, all he wanted to do was “take his mind off tennis” and rest for a bit, after returning home for the first time in nearly two months.
But it’ll be a short break for Wong, who’ll return to the court in about two weeks’ time when Hong Kong, China host Uzbekistan for Davis Cup qualifiers at Victoria Park.
Also speaking at the airport, the president of the Hong Kong, China Tennis Association expressed his gratitude to the SAR government and the Sports Institute for their support to the sport.
“It’s not easy to be a professional athlete. As we try to develop the sport into an industry and nurture professional players, it takes eight to 10 years to find out if there are results,” Michael Cheng said.
“When I travel around the world to attend different matches, I talked to relevant bodies and found out Hong Kong’s subsidies to athletes are the most in the world.”