Korean Men's Tennis Challenges Canada for the Davis Cup Round of 16 for the Third Consecutive Year
The Korean men's national tennis team is attempting to advance to the round of 16 in the Davis Cup, a national competition, for the first time in history for three consecutive years.
Korea, led by coach Kim Young-jun (Konkuk University), will play an away match against Canada in the final round of the 2024 Davis Cup (4th single, 1st doubles) at Iga Stadium (indoor hard court) in Montreal, Canada for two days starting February 3rd (Korean time).
The Davis Cup, known as the 'Tennis World Cup', is divided into the 바카라사이트 Finals, which corresponds to the world's round of 16, World Group 1, World Group 2, and Groups 3 to 5.
Four countries, including last year's winner Italy, runners-up Australia, and wild card recipients Spain and the United Kingdom, have been confirmed to advance to the finals, which is the round of 16, and the remaining 12 spots will be filled with countries that won the final advance to be held in early February.
In 2022, Korea advanced to the round of 16 by defeating Austria in the final round, and defeated Belgium last year.
Korea has advanced to the round of 16 of the Davis Cup a total of five times: in 1981, 1987, 2007, 2022, and 2023.
Last year, after being down 0-2 against Belgium, they came from behind to win 3-2, advancing to the round of 16 for the first time in history for two consecutive years, and will challenge for the round of 16 for the third consecutive year this year.
Korea's national team consists of Hong Seong-chan (224th, Sejong City Hall), Lee Jae-moon (508th, KDB Korea Development Bank), Kwon Soon-woo (700th), Nam Ji-seong (doubles 140th, Sejong City Hall), and Song Min-gyu (doubles 399th, KDB Korea Development Bank). I packed it.
Canada's home court counterpart is Gabriel Diallo (132nd), Alexis Gallarno (211th), Liam Drexl (298th), Miloš Raonic (306th), and Basik Pospisil (486th).
Korea's ace Kwon Soon-woo has been unable to participate in competitions due to injury since the second half of last year, so its world ranking has been pushed down to 700th place.
He competed in the Australian Open, his first major tournament of the year, but was eliminated in the first round of the singles main draw.
Kwon Soon-woo pledged to do well, saying, "My condition is improving as I've been training since the Australian Open.
I feel more responsible in national competitions, so my concentration seems to be higher."
Canada's aces, Felix Auger-Aliassime (30th) and Denis Shapovalov (137th), were both omitted from the entry.
Raonic, who finished runner-up at Wimbledon in 2016 and rose to No. 3 in the world rankings that year, is by far the best in terms of reputation, but has not been able to show off his skills due to recent injuries.
There was a gap of about two years from 2021 to 2023, and he returned in the second half of last year, but withdrew again due to injury during the first round of this year's Australian Open.
Coach Kim Young-jun said, “Because we had a close match with Canada in the recent Davis Cup, there will be pressure on our opponent,” and he was confident, “We have a good chance of winning.”
Captain Song Min-gyu also said, “This is an opportunity to avenge the loss from two years ago,” and added, “Teamwork is important in national competitions, so if we seize the opportunity when it comes, Canada will also struggle.”
Korea and Canada met once in the finals group stage held in Spain in 2022, and Canada won 2-1.
At that time, Kwon Soon-woo defeated Auger-Aliassime, and Hong Seong-chan's singles and Nam Ji-seong and Song Min-gyu's doubles were both full-set matches, putting them on a relatively equal footing with Canada, who won the Davis Cup that year.
The 1st and 2nd singles matches will be held from 6 a.m. on February 3, Korean time, and the doubles and 3rd and 4th singles matches will be held from 4 a.m. on February 4th.
