Soon-Woo Kwon won a dramatic come-from-behind victory over Belgian ace David Gopan, leaving only one step to advance to the final round of the Davis Cup for the second consecutive year.
Kwon Soon-woo (Dangjin City Hall, 61st) won the 3-6 6-1 6-3 victory over Gofang (41st) in the third singles match against Belgium in the 2023 Davis Cup finals held at the Olympic Park indoor tennis court in Seoul on the 5th. He made up for his first game loss against Berris (115th).
The national team started the second day of the match today amid the defensive situation, where Kwon Soon-woo and Hong Seong-chan (Sejong City Hall, 237th) lost 2 singles matches the day before and failed to advance to the finals if only 1 loss was added. Nam Ji-seong (Sejong City Hall, 152nd in doubles) and Song Min-gyu (KDB Industrial Bank, 147th in doubles) defeated Yoran Bligen (52nd in doubles) and Sander Gille (55th in doubles) in doubles, sparking hope. defeated Gopang and made the match score 2-2. The winner is now up to the final singles match between Hong Seong-chan (Sejong City Hall, 237th) and Jiju Berris.
Kwon Soon-woo showed a good start by succeeding in breaking from the first game of the first set. However, he showed a high-tempo fast stroke and succeeded in breaking back in the 4th game, balanced and started to show a more aggressive appearance. Kwon Soon-woo defended the service game by making use of serve and continuous serve aces that were about 20 km/h on average faster than Gopang.
In the 8th game of Gopang, Kwon Soon-woo’s forehand attack안전놀이터 , which fell deep outside the sideline, was scored with a backhand down the line and took a break. At the following point, Kwon Soon-woo committed a backhand error and gave the second break. In Gopang’s service game that followed, Kwon Sun-woo overcame two set point crises, but Gopang recorded serve points with T-zone serve and took the first set.
Kwon Soon-woo took the second set more aggressively to make up for the first set and completely overwhelmed Gofang. I caught the first game with a love game, and after creating 4 break opportunities, I succeeded in breaking first and created a reversal flow. Kwon Soon-woo gained momentum and succeeded in consecutive breaks, opening the game score to 4-0. Kwon Soon-woo, who found complete relaxation, led the game to the third set with the drop shot winner in the 7th game.
Gofang’s concentration began to drop due to bleeding in his left hand that started from the second set and Kwon Soon-woo’s strong attack. Gofang complained of constant discomfort after a two-handed backhand shot due to the influence of his left hand. Kwon Soon-woo, who lost confidence in the serve, pressed Gopang’s service game hard and succeeded in two consecutive breaks. Gofang, who recorded 5 double faults in the 2nd set, fell below 20% in the 3rd set of the second serve. Kwon Soon-woo made the second break with a lob ace, and Gofang expressed his emotions by hitting the ball into the air.
Kwon Soon-woo drove the momentum and succeeded in breaking once more in the ninth game to finish the game.