Hyeon Chung, the last one who beat Djokovic at the Australian Open, and his ordeal after achieving the impossible

Novak Djokovic

continues to add victories to his historic winning streak at the

Australian Open

.

The one he achieved in four sets and almost four hours of play against the American

Taylor Fritz

, to advance to the semis, was the Serbian's 33rd consecutive in the "big" oceanic tournament and allowed him to equal the tournament record held by the American

Monica Seles

.

Five years have passed - four consecrations and one absence - since the last time the world number one was defeated on the cement of Melbourne Park.

It was on January 22, 2018 in a round of 16 match that ended with

Roger Federer

lifting the title, the last one the Swiss would win in a Grand Slam.

Djokovic's "executioner" in that match was

Hyeon Chung

, who beat a Nole far from his best level 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 and 7-6 (7-3) (he was 14th in ranking and returned to play after six months of inactivity due to a right elbow injury) and achieved a resounding victory.

The celebration promised to give a great boost to a career that seemed to have a bright future.

The South Korean, then 21 years old and 58th in the world, was one of the most promising young people on the circuit, for many a potential Grand Slam champion.

However, none of the expectations he had generated were met because the injuries did not allow him to fully exploit.

Today, at 27 years old, Chung is ranked 1,099th in the ATP ranking and has just eight points.

They are the ones she achieved last year, when in a new attempt to return to competition, she competed in the

Wimbledon

qualifiers .

He beat the Bulgarian

Dimitar Kuzmanov

in the first round and retired in the second against the Frenchman

Enzo Couacaud

due to severe shoulder discomfort.

Since then, no more has been heard from him.

What's more, his last social media post is prior to that time at the

All England

: he is seen on a grass field, playing with a ball and "preparing" for the tour of that surface.

What have you experienced since that unforgettable victory against Djokovic and the painful withdrawal from the British Major, just over six months ago?

A constant nightmare with various physical problems and a recurring lower back injury, which kept him away from the circuit for two years between 2020 and 2022.

INCREDIBLE!

🌟

Hyeon #Chung becomes the first Korean player in history - man or woman - to reach the QF at a Grand Slam.#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/R67I9fLEmn

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2018

Born in May 1996 in Suwon, into a family closely linked to tennis (his father

Seok-Ji

was a player and coach and his older brother

Hong

followed the same path), Chung began practicing that sport to improve his problems. Of vision.

Because of this visual impairment, he always played with striking glasses.

He had all the qualities to succeed on the circuit: he hit hard from both sides, he knew how to defend and attack, he had a good physique (he is 1.88 meters tall) and he was fast, agile and disciplined.

"A wall

," Djokovic praised him after the defeat in Melbourne, where he has since been crowned four times, in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023 (he did not play in 2022, when he was deported amid controversy over his refusal to be vaccinated against the coronavirus).

A few months before surprising the Serbian in the "big" oceanic event, Chung had made history by winning the first edition of the

ATP Next Gen Finals

, in Milan.

He won that tournament undefeated, with outstanding victories against other (at that time) great promises from his class,

Daniil Medvedev

, whom he beat in the semis, and

Andrey Rublev

, in the round robin and in the final.

Chung defeated Rublev in the final to lift the trophy at the first Next Gen ATP Finals.

Photo Antonio Calanni / AP

At the start of 2018, he was the big surprise in Australia, where he beat

Mischa Zverev

, Medvedev and

Alexander Zverev

before going down to

Nole

.

"I don't know how I did it, I'm just happy. It's an honor to play against Novak. When I was little I tried to copy Novak, because he's my idol. I can't believe it, tonight a dream came true," he commented after beating the Serbian .

In the quarterfinals he eliminated

Tennys Sandgren

to meet Federer in the semifinals, but blisters on his left foot forced him to retire when the Swiss beat him 6-1 and 5-2.

After that tournament the ordeal began.

Although in April of that season he reached his best ranking (19th) and managed to conquer nine challengers, injuries to his ankles and abdominal area did not allow him to gain continuity and his career stagnated more and more. .

And in September 2020, after falling in the second round of Roland Garros

qualifying

against

Renzo Olivo

, he disappeared from the scene.

See this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hyeon Chung 정현 (@hyeonchung)

He spent almost two years trying to recover from that back discomfort, which led him to undergo surgery and undergo different treatments.

In September 2022, he stepped onto a tennis court again.

Without ranking and with little rhythm, he played the Seoul ATP

doubles draw

with his compatriot

Soonwoo Kwon

.

They entered thanks to a special invitation and said goodbye in semis.

"I had to treat the back problem and rehabilitate it, treat it and rehabilitate it all the time. Then it was training, training, training and rehabilitation for two years. My main goal is not to suffer injuries, so I want to stay healthy," he commented in that moment in an interview with the

ATP

.

It wasn't until April of last year that he played a singles match again.

It was in the

Seoul Challenger

, which he also entered thanks to a wild card.

He lost on debut to Australian

Jordan Thompson

, but celebrated having "completed a real two-hour match" and finishing without discomfort.

Chung's last appearance was at the 2023 Wimbledon qualy. Photo Ben Stansall / AFP

That was to be the kick-off for his decisive return.

After the competition in the South Korean capital, he competed in four other challengers, without any victory -

Busan

, on cement, and

Surbiton

,

Nottingham

and

Ilkley

, on grass -, before arriving at

Wimbledon

, where he entered the qualy with a protected ranking of 159°.

But again his body let him down and Chung left London with a 1-1 record, his head down and a new injury.

Since then, he has not appeared publicly again or posted anything on his social networks.

Has it brought down the curtain on her private career?

If so, at least he will have the nice memory of that enormous victory against Djokovic in Australia.

The last blow that the Serbian suffered at Melbourne Park, at least for now.