Coleman Wong and Eudice Chong make Hong Kong tennis history

Hong Kong tennis star Coleman Wong Chak-lam secured a historic spot in the French Open main draw as a lucky loser, where he will face Belgian No 1 and world No 36 Alexander Blockx on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, Eudice Chong became the first player from the city to capture a WTA doubles title at the Morocco Open on Saturday morning.

Although Wong lost in the final round of the French Open men’s singles qualifiers, he received the lucky loser spot on Saturday morning to enter the main draw.

The 21-year-old, currently ranked world No 113, won his first two qualifying matches before suffering defeat in the third round against Juan Carlos Prado Angelo.

Lucky loser berths are granted to players who fell at the final qualifying hurdle in the event of main-draw withdrawals. An opening emerged after American Sebastian Korda withdrew due to injury.

Since both Wong, the qualifying tournament’s No 4 seed, and top seed Jesper de Jong of the Netherlands were eliminated in the third round, a lottery selected the Hongkonger as the lucky loser.