Coleman Wong wins Asian Games gold and qualifies for the Olympics

Coleman Wong will be eagerly checking his phone, looking for a message from Rafael Nadal, after the Hong Kong player won the gold medal in the tennis competitions at the Asian Games on Saturday, and secured a place in the Olympic Games with it.

Wong defeated Wu Yiping (6-2) and (6-4), joining China's Wang Shiyu, winner of the women's final, as one of the two singles champions in Nagoya.

Pat Wong (22 years old) is the first player from Hong Kong to win tennis gold in the men's category.

Wong is ranked 100th in the world, and in the 2025 US Open, he became the first player from Hong Kong to reach the third round in a Grand Slam tournament.

When he was seventeen years old, he decided to move to Spain to train at the Rafael Nadal Academy, and the great Spanish star is keen to follow the development of his career.

When asked if he had received a message from Nadal after winning gold, Wong said: “I haven’t checked my messages yet. I don't know. "Let's see."

He added: “He always talks to my coaches to find out how things are going and what the atmosphere is like within the team.”

He continued: “Sometimes we hold a meeting with him and Uncle Tony (Nadal’s uncle) to find out what is happening and what the situation is. He knows what's going on, the planning and everything. We always ask him: What do we do at this stage?

Wong can now start planning for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, which will be his first Olympic participation.

"It's going to be great, and I'm very excited," he said.

He concluded: “There is still time, I will just try to continue developing my level and see how far I can reach.”

Spaniard Carlos Alcarras qualified for the quarter-finals of the Japan Open Tennis Championship, after defeating Italian Matteo Arnaldi, 7/6, 6/1, on Saturday.

Alkaras won the match in an hour and 45 minutes.

Alkaras said, in statements published on the World Tennis Association’s website: “When you are late in the tiebreak, you think about doing something different, and then you try to perform better in the second set... I just tried to hold on and focus, one point after another. I changed my playing style from what it was before that moment, and it worked. I'm very happy with the first set; “Matthew was giving a great performance.”

After achieving his third victory over Arnaldi, Alcarras achieved his seventh consecutive victory in the 500-point Japanese Championship, after his first participation last year, which saw him win the title.

The Spanish player aims to be the first man to defend his title in the tournament since American Pete Sampras achieved this feat in 1993 and 1994.

Alcarras will meet in the quarter-finals with Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who defeated Chilean Alejandro Tabello 7/5, 3/6, 6/4.

The fourth seed in the world, American Coco Gauff, defeated Camila Osorio 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-2 thanks to great determination, overcoming a fluctuation in her serve to advance to the second round of the China Open 1000-point women’s tennis tournament on Saturday in Beijing.

The Colombian, ranked 66th in the world, showed strong resistance after losing the tough tiebreak in the first set due to two double faults, even though she needed medication to overcome a problem in her back.

Osorio saved two balls to decide the match, but Gauff was desperate and saved points in long exchanges, thanks to a perfect backhand and saving cross balls.

The 22-year-old said after the match, which lasted two hours and 18 minutes: “It was difficult, it was not the cleanest (level in the match).”

“I'm just happy with the way I was able to refocus,” she added.

In the next round, Gauff will face the winner of the match between Spain's Cristina Buxa and Chinese teenager Sun Xinran, ranked 582 in the world.

Later Saturday, world number one Kazakh Elena Rybakina is scheduled to play against Armenian world number 118 Alina Charaeva in the evening.

In the men's tournament (500 points), German top seed Alexander Zverev will play against Chinese tennis hopeful Shang Junqing in order to reach the quarter-finals against Serbian Novak Djokovic.