Expectations from domestic tennis fans are growing as Kwon Soon-woo (61st, Dangjin City Hall) and David Gopin (41st, Belgium) will face off this weekend.
Korea and Belgium will face each other in the 2023 Davis Cup finals (4 tier 1 doubles) at the Olympic Park indoor tennis stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul for two days from the 4th.
The winning country will advance to the final round of 16, the finals, but if it loses, it will be pushed to the World Group qualifier 1, and a head-to-head confrontation is inevitable.
In particular, Kwon Soon-woo and Gopin have a great responsibility as the aces of the two countries.
As you have to win 3 wins first, if Ace wins 2 wins alone, you will be closer to the finals.
In terms of current rankings and career, Gopin is ahead, but the recent trend is for Kwon Soon-woo.
Gopin has won six singles championships on the men’s professional tennis (ATP) tour, and is a strong player with his personal best ranking ranked seventh in 2017.
In major tournaments, he also made it to the quarterfinals in singles four times, including at Wimbledon last year.
Against this, Kwon Soon-woo is slightly inferior to Gopin with two ATP Tour singles championships and a personal best ranking of 52nd.
His best major result is also the 3rd round (roof of 32) at the 2021 French Open.
Born in 1990, Go Peng is 7 years older, and they are the same in height (180 cm) and right-handed.
However, Kwon Soon-woo won the ATP Tour Adelaide International held in Australia in January and is riding a good trend, but Gopin withdrew due to poor physical condition ahead of the Australian Open.
At the official press conference held at the venue on the 2nd, the two did not relax their guard against each other.
Kwon Soon-woo said, “Gopin is an aggressive player with good forehand, backhand, and net play.”
“Gopin’s playing style is similar to mine,” he added.
Gopin also said, “I have never played with Kwon Soon-woo, but I practiced with him.”
Regarding his recent condition, he showed confidence, saying, “I was not in good shape ahead of the Australian Open, but I recovered 100% by winning the Belgian Challenger last week.”
The face-to-face match between Kwon Soon-woo and Gopin will be held on the 5th.
The match draw is held on the 3rd, but the match between the players with the highest singles rankings in the two countries is scheduled for the match after the doubles finish on the 5th, the second day of the tournament.
The Davis Cup match between Korea and Belgium will start at 11 am on the 4th and 5th and will be broadcast live by Coupang Play. 바카라