The South Korean men’s tennis team has suffered its second straight Davis Cup group stage loss.
The team, led by head coach Kim Young-jun, lost 0-3 to the Czech Republic in the second match of Group C at the Davis Cup Finals 2023 in Valencia, Spain, on Thursday (local time).
South Korea, which also lost its first match against Serbia 0-3, dropped to the bottom of Group C with the loss.
South Korea’s Hong Seong-chan (194th-ranked Sejong City Hall) lost 1-2 (6-7 6-4 2-6) to Tomasi Mahachi (119th-ranked) at No. 1 singles, while “Ace” Kwon Sun-woo (112th-ranked Dangjin City Hall) went down 0-2 (1-6 5-7) to Irzi Rehetska (30th-ranked) at No. 2 singles.
Korea also had to accept a disappointing result in the final doubles pairing of Nam Ji-sung (126th-ranked Sejong City Hall) and Song Min-gyu (185th-ranked KDB), who fell 1-2 (6-3 6-7 4-6) to Yakuf Menshik (151st-ranked singles) and Adam Pavlasek (57th-ranked doubles).
The Koreans will now prepare for their final group match against Spain with their hopes still alive.
Currently, the Czech Republic is in first place in Group C with two wins, followed by Serbia with one win, Spain (one loss) and Korea (two losses).
It’s impossible for South Korea to finish in the top two and reach the quarterfinals on their own. If Serbia wins the match between Serbia (1 win) and Spain (1 loss) on Friday, South Korea will be automatically eliminated.
South Korea will have to wait and see how the rest of the world fares, and will need to win the third match against Spain on Sunday to have any chance of advancing to the quarterfinals. 스포츠토토
Meanwhile, the Davis Cup, often referred to as the “World Cup of Tennis,” features a total of 16 teams competing in four groups. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain, in November.