KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 (Bernama) -- The fans turned out en masse to welcome the return of ATP Tour tennis to Hong Kong for the first time in decades at the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open (BOCHKTO) 2024.
According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board in a statement, the opening day tickets to the Victoria Park Tennis Stadium were all sold out by the early afternoon, and after a spectacular fireworks show on New Year’s Eve, the players brought their own pyrotechnics to Centre Court.
Rising China star Shang Juncheng recorded the biggest win of his young career after outlasting Serbia’s Laslo Djere on Centre Court in over three hours marathon opening match, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6.
“I had a pretty rough 2023 and coming into 2024 with a good win, I am just really happy to be here and excited about what is next.
“Djere is 33 in the rankings so it is an amazing win. The biggest of my career. Hopefully I can do some good things this year,” he said.
Shang expressed his delight at playing once again in China stating that he always enjoyed going back home, having amazing fans and to just enjoy the court.
Meanwhile, a resoundingly successful opening day of the BOCHKTO 2024 finished with an entertaining doubles match featuring tournament top seeds World No.5 Andrey Rublev and World No. 15 Karen Khachanov against Hong Kong No.1 Coleman Wong and Belgium’s Zizou Bergs.
-- BERNAMA
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