Koreans in Kaohsiung
In yesterday's list of this week's indoor tournaments, I skipped the Challenger event in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Today though, I will preview a men's doubles match in Nam/Song vs. Gong/Oliveira.
Ji Sung Nam and Min-Kyu Song first played doubles together in 2015. Over the years, the two Koreans developed into a regular Challenger level team. They have won 12 titles together, one in 2015, three in 2016 and four each in 2018 and 2019.
Coming Back Confidently
After winning all their titles in 2015 and 2016 in South Korea, Korean Ji Sung Nam took a break from professional tennis in 2017. His return to tour in 2018 was a success. He won two singles titles and six doubles titles, four of them teamed with Song, with whom he had an undefeated record of 15 wins to 0 losses.
During that streak, they also claimed their maiden Challenger title at home in Gwangju. This year, they won two more Challenger titles in Yokkaichi and Baotou.
Coordinated Compatriots
Together, the two Koreans have a record of 76-21 and this year especially, they are beating experienced teams such as Purcell/Saville and Gong/Zhang on a regular basis.
Nam/Song also played Gong/Zhang last weekend in Davis Cup and lost in two tiebreaks, 6-7(6) 6-7(5). The Chinese tandem are an experienced doubles team as well, with a 113-70 record on tour. Today however, Mao-Xin Gong does not team up with Ze Zhang but with Goncalo Oliveira. The two have never played together before.
Motivated vs. Malcontent
Being a well-coordinated team does not seal the deal in doubles, but it's an integral component to a team's success. Furthermore, I don't think that Oliveira will be the best doubles player on court. His serve has improved over the years, but it's still fragile. The Portuguese also lost his singles match today against Mukund and he was not sportsmanlike with the referee, shouting "worst ref I saw in my life" multiple times. So I'm not sure if he will be too motivated to go on a long run here in doubles.
All things considered, I see a well-functioning team with a great record facing a partnership of convenience. The Koreans did not lose a first round match since 2016 and I'll take them at slight underdog odds.
