Coleman Wong: 'He's here to take people's lunch if necessary'

ATP Tour

Coleman Wong: 'He's here to take people's lunch if necessary'

Exclusive insight from coach James Allemby

Al Bello/Getty Images Coleman Wong is competing in his first major main draw at the US Open. By Andrew Eichenholz

Coleman Wong’s coach, James Allemby, was working with Andrey Rublev’s coach, Fernando Vicente, to schedule a practice between their players for several tournaments. That proved difficult because Rublev’s training sessions had been set well in advance, but they eventually took to the court together in Toronto.

“Rublev was great. He was talking a lot to Coleman, sharing his experiences. They actually played a practice set and even though it's just practice, which doesn't mean much, Coleman was very intent on sending a message to the field,” Allemby told ATPTour.com. “Whenever he practises with guys who are at the top level, that's a little bit his purpose going into it as well. He doesn't want to show that he's just there to make up the numbers.

“He wants to actually make his presence felt, so that word goes around the locker room a little bit more that he's here to compete and he's here to take people's lunch if necessary.”

Now Wong will have his chance against Rublev on one of the biggest stages in the sport, when he takes on the 17-time ATP Tour titlist on Saturday in the third round of the US Open.

Entering the tournament, Wong had never been in a major main draw. Not only did the former junior World No. 11 qualify, but he became the first man playing for Hong Kong to compete in a Grand Slam main draw in the Open Era and now can reach the second week.

The 21-year-old was up a break against Rublev during their practice set a month ago and will take confidence from having already stood across the net from the five-time Nitto ATP Finals competitor.

“He was just loving it. He was loving every point, hustling after every ball. Obviously Rublev hits how he does and he was loving chasing them down and attacking himself. It was cool,” Allemby said. “The belief barrier on that front is good. We need to find as many reasons why it's possible as we can, so that's definitely one. He's already shared the court with him. He's already played practice points with him. He's already broken him. He knows what it's like to feel that pace, to go toe to toe with him, even if he's practising.”

Fans will immediate notice that Wong brings an abundance of passion to the court. The No. 146 player in the PIF ATP Live Rankings gives everything on every point he plays.

“He's got so much passion for the sport and for competing,” Allenby said. “It's one thing when you're winning and everything is going well, but that's something that he's got, and that's part of his fabric.”

Allemby, a coach at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, first began working with Wong four years ago. Immediately, he was impressed with his charge’s attitude and hunger for playing tennis.

“There's a thing that they call in Spanish called Buena Cara, which is having a good face all the time. That's something that's a controllable and that we give a lot of importance to,” Allemby said. “You come on court, you're enthusiastic about what you're going to do, about playing tennis at the end of the day.

“Some people see it as a little bit of a job or a bit of a hassle, they’re going to have to suffer through it, but he would always have Buena Cara, a good face, super enthusiastic for what he was doing.”

That does not mean there have not been difficult moments. Last May in Little Rock, Arkansas, Wong competed in an ATP Challenger Tour event where he lost a tough match in tricky conditions against World No. 323 Andres Andrade. Wong came off court “distraught” according to Allemby.

“He didn't manage to find any solutions. He was disappointed with his attitude, and he was just going ballistic, which is very uncharacteristic for him,” Allemby recalled. “He usually handles losses quite well, you're able to talk to him straight after.”

Wong and Allemby at Indian Wells.

The next day, they woke up at 6 a.m. and ran 10 kilometres together up and down the hills of Little Rock. They later stepped on the practice court and Wong still had “a bit of a bad attitude” and was not communicating much during a practice set, when the goal was to share what was in his mind. During a sitdown Wong kept saying “I don’t know” when asked what he could have done better and “No” when asked if he wanted to do anything better.

Allemby did not say anything to Wong the rest of the practice and that helped get the message across. Eventually Wong looked over and said, “I’m really sorry”.

An important part of Allemby’s coaching philosophy is bounceback capacity. This moment in Arkansas remains a reference point for when things go wrong and how to recover from those difficulties.

Allemby and Wong’s team had a goal this season for their charge to play more ATP Tour qualifying events so he could spend more time around top-level players. That paid off in Miami, where Wong made the third round behind wins against Daniel Altmaier and Ben Shelton.

The Hongkonger skipped an ATP Challenger Tour event in Czechia with the hopes of getting into Rome qualifying. Although he did not ultimately compete there, consistently being at ATP Masters 1000 events added more fuel to the fire simply by being around the biggest stars.

“Now they know him, they speak to him in the locker room. It's not so much of a novelty anymore,” Allenby said. “When he was coming out of juniors, he would rarely practise with these guys because he was still a Futures player. And so when he would spend time with them, it was a big thing, it was special, whereas now it's become a little bit more normal.”

There are still moments when Wong marvels at those across the net. He has hit with Lorenzo Musetti multiple times at Flushing Meadows and in the middle of rallies commented about the Italian’s volleys.

But especially with his triumph over Shelton, Wong knows that he is not just another player, but a competitor ready to challenge anyone in his way. The World No. 173 hopes to keep that mindset when he faces Rublev.

“One thing is practising with them, another thing is beating somebody of that calibre in a match,” Allemby said. “He proved to himself [against Shelton] that he's not only able to hang with these guys, he's able to win matches against these guys.”

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