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Lars Hamer

Coleman Wong Chak-lam’s coach has called on the young Hongkonger to leave nothing on the court when he faces world No 15 Andrey Rublev in the third round of the US Open on Saturday.
Wong battled through three qualifying matches before beating world No 71 Aleksandar Kovacevic and then Adam Walton, ranked 85, at Flushing Meadows to record the city’s best showing in singles at a grand slam.
Allemby said Wong, whose match is scheduled to start at just midnight Hong Kong time, had to use “all the tools he’s got against Rublev”.
“He has to go for it,” the coach added. “There’s no option. If he doesn’t go for it, if he plays passively, then he’s going to lose.”
Allemby said despite the gulf in world rankings, with Wong at No 173, the 21-year-old could take down the hot-headed Russian.

“With Rublev, what you see is what you get,” he said. “He’s not a very versatile guy; he does one thing very well … and we also know he’s got a tendency to melt down.
“If he has a lot of time on the forehand, he’s gonna crank it, that’s for sure. And during those waist-height rallies, he is extremely good, so you know it’s most likely Rublev will win in that scenario, because that’s his bread and butter.
“But he’s going to give up some freebies, most likely at the net, and he’s a good server, but he’s not a great server, so it’s pretty accessible on second serve, unlike other guys.”
This year, Allemby arranged a training session between Wong and Rublev in Toronto, with the pair even playing a practice set.
“Coleman won a few games, and even though it was only a practice, little things like that give you confidence,” Allemby said.
Allemby said this year they had decided that Wong would prioritise matches on the ATP Tour over challenger tournaments, even if that meant taking a drop in the world rankings.
Training with better players more frequently was something they had targeted too, but Allemby thought Wong might have overstepped the mark when hitting with Britain’s former world No 8 Cameron Norrie.
“Coleman won a tough point and let out a loud ‘Come on’ during the practice,” Allemby said. “I got a bit nervous, because some players might not like that, but Cameron loved it and started doing it himself during the practice, too.”
Allemby said mingling with the top 100 players, seeing how they train and hitting with them had rubbed off on Wong, leading to a string of historic victories in 2025.
In March, Wong became the first Hongkonger to win an ATP Masters 1000 tournament match when he beat Daniel Altmaier at the Miami Open. He then beat Ben Shelton – the then world No 14 who is now ranked sixth – before going out in the third round.
“Regardless of the results, you get to practice with the best when you’re on the ATP Tour,” Allemby said.
“So, you’re getting used to their quality of ball. It’s almost contagious being around them, seeing their habits, seeing what they do, seeing the intensity with which they do things, and Coleman has started to identify himself as an ATP player.
“He’s proved to himself that he can compete with guys at that level, and that’s another one of the reasons why we want him to play up a little bit more.”


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Hong Kong

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Hongkonger’s coach James Allemby says only way to beat world No 15 Andrey Rublev is to attack


Hongkonger’s coach James Allemby says only way to beat world No 15 Andrey Rublev is to attack.


Coleman Wong Chak-lam

Andrey Rublev

Ben Shelton

US Open: Coleman Wong urged to ‘just go for it’ in third-round clash with Rublev

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hongkonger’s coach James Allemby says only way to beat world No 15 Andrey Rublev is to attack

Hongkonger’s coach James Allemby says only way to beat world No 15 Andrey Rublev is to attack