Australian Open 2018: Hyeon Chung chops Tennys Sandgren down to size and reaches first Slam semi final

HYEON CHUNG made sure Tennys was the loser and reached his first Grand Slam semi-final.

But Chung admitted the thought of becoming the first Korean of either sex to reach the last four of a Slam distracted him during the last game of his victory over surprise package Tennys Sandgren. 

Hyeon Chung kept up the momentum from his stunning win over Novak Djokovic in the last 16Chung held three match points at 40/0, but had to save break back points including one which featured a long exchange of backhand slices that had the Rod Laver Arena crowd giggling.

Sandgren also produced two stunning reaction volleys, one after the other, to help keep his tournament alive but in the final point he sent the ball long.

Chung said: “If I win one more point, I make history in Korea. - I was thinking something like that. I started thinking about what I have to do in the ceremony.

“After that, on the break points, I was thinking: ‘No, nothing about the ceremony.’

“I just had to put the ball back in the court and run a lot.”

Asked whether he would prefer to play Roger Federer or Tomas Berdych in Friday’s semi, Chung said: “50/50. Whoever wins, I just play. I don’t care.”

Sandgren, who was a break ahead in the second set, launched a sensational attack on critics questioning his right-wing views and links to extremists.

Sandgren deleted his entire Twitter history bar one post after being grilled following his previous match about some of the people and opinions he had inter-acted with on social media.

After his quarter-final defeat by Hyeon Chung, the Donald Trump-supporting American read from a prepared statement, saying: “You seek to put people in these little boxes so that you can order the world in your already assumed preconceived ideas.

“You strip away any individuality for the sake of demonizing by way of the collective.
"With a handful of follows and some likes on Twitter, my fate has been sealed in your minds.

“To write an edgy story, to create sensationalist coverage, there are a few lengths you wouldn't go to to mark me as the man you desperately want me to be."

He added: “You would rather perpetuate propaganda machines instead of researching information from a host of angles and perspectives while being willing to learn, change, and grow.

“You dehumanize with pen and paper and turn neighbour against neighbour. In so doing, you may actually find you're hastening the hell you wish to avoid, the hell we all wish to avoid.
“It is my firm belief that the highest value must be placed on the virtue of each individual, regardless of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation.

“It's my job to continue on this journey with the goal of becoming the best me I can and to embody the love Christ has for me, for I answer to Him and Him alone.”

Sandgren said he was willing to answer questions about his match, but not the controversy.

The American No 10, who was drawn to play Andy Murray at last year’s US Open only for the Scot to pull out with injury, added: “This stopped being about tennis.

“I was fine talking about tennis. I'm fine talking about a lot of things.

“But, you know, I feel like this has gone very far away from the tennis.”