South Korea’s Hyeon Chung becomes new fan favorite at Australian Open

The Australian Open has a new fan favorite, 21-year-old Hyeon Chung, into the semifinals after beating American Tennys Sandgren.

Hyeon Chung, 21, won his quarterfinal match against American Tennys Sandgren,  6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3 after beating big names like No. 4 Alexander Zverev and then shocking Novak Djokovic in the fourth round. Chung is the most exciting player at the moment.

After winning the final set against the last American standing, he introduced the audience to everyone in his player’s box and talked to his fans in his native language. His youth and enthusiasm are infectious and a breath of fresh air among all the tennis names we’re familiar with. You can’t help but want the guy the to win every time.

At age 21 and ranked No. 58, Chung is the youngest semifinalist at a Grand Slam since another man still left in the draw, Marin Chilic, reached the semis of 2010 AO at the same age. Hyeon Chung is also the lowest-ranked male AO semifinalist since then-No. 86-ranked Marat Safin at the 2004 Slam.

The South Korean put himself on the map last year by giving the top player Rafael Nadal one of his toughest challenges on clay at last year’s Barcelona tournament, forcing a tight tie break in the first set of their match. Chung also sailed through all his matches in Milan at the ATP Next Gen Finals, winning his first big title. And he hasn’t stopped since then. He beat the same opponent he did here, Sandgren, and then John Isner to make the third round in Aukland. Since he entered the main draw in Melbourne, he hasn’t shown any signs of stopping.

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A Tae Kwon Do fighter in his youth, he switched to tennis because of his astigmatism. His doctor said ‘have the boy focus on the color green.’ Since his father was a tennis enthusiast himself, he devised the perfect solution. His father was his coach up until the end of last year.

Chung’s career earnings so far are $477,499. He will double that with his semifinal appearance, destined to receive $880,000 at least.

Next up for him is someone who’s dismissed a lot of youthful players before, Roger Federer, going for his sixth Aussie title.

“Whoever wins, I’m playing. I don’t care,” Chung said.

We’ll see if youthful fearlessness or calculating experience dominate in the semifinal with Federer.