Hong Kong's number one Yu Hiu-tung defeated Taiwan's Chang Yao-lun in the opening round of the men's singles at the US$10,000 China F4 Futures in Guangzhou on Monday.
Yu, 23, beat Chang in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4, to set up a second-round clash with top seed Im Kyu-tae (currently number 322 on the Association of Tennis Professionals, or ATP, rankings) or former Chinese number one, Wang Yu.
'It was a tough two-hour match for both players in scorching heat and humidity,' said Hong Kong Sports Institute's head tennis coach, Stan Tamura, from Guangzhou.
'Yu's opponent was a small guy but had a very aggressive style and hit out on almost every ball. He could generate tremendous racquet speed,
and managed to hit a lot of winners.
'But Yu stayed with him, defended well and made him play extra balls, thus forcing the opponent into making errors.
'Both players had several service breaks and neither could take total control of the match, but Yu was just a little more solid with his game today [Monday] and that was the difference. Overall, it was a good match for Yu.'
