The main event of the "BOC Hong Kong Tennis Open" on New Year's Day attracted a large number of fans to celebrate the ATP Men's Professional Tennis Tour after an absence of 21 years. , returned to Hong Kong again. Tickets for the New Year's Day event have been sold out this afternoon.

The opening ceremony was hosted by Mr. Yang Yunxiong, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Mr. Chen Junwen, General Manager of Programs and Tourism Product Development of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Mr. Chen Wen, Vice President of BOC Hong Kong, Mr. Roland Herfel, ATP Event Supervisor, and Denis, ATP Tour Manager. Mr. Zivcovic, tournament director Mr. Luiz Carvalho, and President of the Tennis Association of Hong Kong, China, Mr. Cheng Ming-che, officiated and kicked off the event with a Hong Kong-specific cultural performance of one dragon and three lions.

After a wonderful fireworks display on New Year's Eve, today's home tennis match was also full of sparks. Mainland China's rising tennis star Shang Juncheng defeated Serbian player Laslo Djere in a marathon opening match of almost three hours, achieving the biggest victory of his career. He will compete with Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round.

After Shang Juncheng defeated Dialli, ranked 33rd in the world, 2:1 (6:7, 6:3, 7:6) in the first round, he said: "Speaking of the opponent's world ranking and the feeling after winning. It feels like the best match I have won so far in my professional tennis career.”

"From experiencing some difficult moments in 2023 to today's first victory on the first day of 2024, I am really happy and excited about the future. My opponent Dialli is ranked 33rd in the world. It is my tennis Among the wins he has won in his career, he is the highest-ranked golfer in the world. I hope he will continue to perform well this year.”

Shang Juncheng from Mainland China admitted that he was very happy to play on Chinese soil again. He said: "Playing here is very special. I saw many fans cheering for me today. My family is also here. This is very special to me. Significant."

In the rest of the first round, Pavel Kotov defeated Nuno Borges 6:2, 6:4 and Emil Ruusuvuori 6:7, 6:2, 6:1. Benjamin Bonzi and Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan lost to Botic Van De Zandschulp 5:7, 1:6.

As for the qualifying round, Japan's Taro Daniel defeated Britain's Jan Choinski 6:4, 3:6, 6:4, and the third seed in the qualifying round, Britain's Liam Broady ) defeated Argentine young player Roman Andres Burruchaga 6:2, 6:3, while Vityaly Satchko defeated Terence Atmane in straight sets 7:6, 6:1. ), Marc-Andrea Huesler defeated Otto Virtanen 6:2, 6:0.

Hong Kong's top player Huang Zelin also made an appearance at the "BOC Hong Kong Tennis Open 2024" today. This is the first ATP Tour event in his career. He teamed up with Belgium's Zizou Bergs to play the finale of the tennis match at home. The match started just after 9:30 pm. They played against the two top players in the match, Andrey Rublev/Kajinlov. (Karen Khachanov) teamed up for an exciting tag team match.

For the Huang Zelin/Beggs combination, this was a leapfrog challenge. They lost to the ATP fans' favorite doubles combination in straight sets 6:2, 6:4.

After the game, Huang Zelin shared his experience of playing in his first ATP Tour event at home and said: "I am very grateful to my family, friends and fans for supporting me at such a late hour. Tonight is really a very special night. I am very grateful. I am happy and excited to participate in this match. My opponents are two of the top golfers in the world. This match allowed me to experience the taste of a top-level golf match. I also benefited a lot from it and prepared for my singles match tomorrow. "

Tomorrow night (January 2), Huang Zelin will play his first singles match against Italian rising star Lorenzo Musetti, ranked 27th in the world, at home tennis court.

Photo News : (Left to right): ATP Tour players Sadio Doumbia, Paul Cayre, Fabien Reboul, Aziz Dougaz, Benjamin Bonzi ) and Mackenzie McDonald enjoy the countdown fireworks display on Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor on New Year's Eve. They and other ATP Tour players will appear in this week's "BOC Hong Kong Tennis Open 2024" (December 31 to January 7), and stage a series of fierce battles at the Victoria Park Tennis Home.

The joy of doubles – the first day of the "BOC Hong Kong Tennis Open 2024" was a complete success. The full-day match ended with a wonderful doubles match. The top seed of the event, world number 5 Andrey Rublev, and world number 5 No. 15 Karen Khachanov faced Hong Kong No. 1 Huang Zelin and Belgian golfer Zizou Bergs. The Rubiliv/Kajinlov combination was selected as the 2023 ATP fans' favorite doubles team.

 

Source:businesswire.com

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