Coleman Wong stays cool in face of opponent’s outburst to reach last 8 of Challenger event
Hongkonger ignores Bosnian Damir Dzumhur’s tirade to again come back from a set down at Copa Cap Cana tournament in Dominican Republic
Coleman Wong Chak-lam said he had drawn inspiration from superstar pair Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner after he coolly ignored a confrontational outburst from opponent Damir Dzumhur to secure a three-set victory and a spot in the Copa Cap Cana quarter-finals in the Dominican Republic.
The Hongkonger irritated Dzumhur when he clenched his fist in the direction of his support team after the Bosnian double-faulted to hand Wong a 4-1 lead in the deciding set.
As Wong marched to his seat, Dzumhur angrily asked him: “‘Yes’, on a double fault, huh?”
Wong’s refusal to engage further antagonised the former world No 23, who repeatedly demanded: “I’m asking you, ‘yes’, on a double fault?”
Umpire Raluca Andrei tried to calm Dzumhur, a three-time champion on the ATP Tour, as Wong towelled himself, sipped his drink and fixed his gaze forwards.
“Funny, huh?” an increasingly enraged Dzumhur repeated five times, before twice asking the unperturbed Wong to “look at my face and laugh”.