After being given the “lucky loser” relief for the second time in two weeks, Coleman Wong Chak-lam has been paired with the son of the Argentine soccer legend in the first round of the Copa Cap Cana Challenger event in the Dominican Republic.
Benefiting from his withdrawal after losing to Martin Landaluce in the qualifiers, Wong will meet Roman Andres Burruchaga, whose father, Jorge, scored the winning goal when Diego Maradona’s Argentina beat West Germany in the 1986 World Cup final.
Wong’s nearly three-hour 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 loss to young Landaluce, after the Hongkonger defeated China’s Zhang Zhizhen in her opening qualifying match, marked her best year so far.
Having been broken in the opening game, Wong responded immediately, then won the sixth game against his opponent before sealing the set in 42 minutes.
Landaluce, the Spanish world number 155, had a decisive break in the eighth game of the second set, but Wong looked set for victory as he opened up a 3-0 advantage in the decider.
Gutsy’s 20-year-old Landaluce hit the bar and took straight games that went to three deuces, before using his momentum to comfortably hold and then break Wong again for a 4-3 lead.
Wong lost five break points in the eighth game of seven deuces, but broke even when Landaluce failed to serve at 5-4.
