Pierre-Hugues Herbert Ousts 2018 Semifinalist Hyeon Chung in Rainy Second-Round Match

“It was tough day for me today, he had a really good serve and then the rain came,” Chung said.

Hyeon Chung made it to the semifinals last year at the Australian Open, giving the sport’s profile a massive boost in South Korea.

His run was more brief on return this year, beaten by Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-2, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a rain-interrupted second-round match. He lost in the first round in warm-up tournaments in Pune, India and Auckland, New Zealand.

“It was tough day for me today, he had a really good serve and then the rain came,” Chung said.

It was also a tough 2018 after Chung advanced to the semis at Melbourne Park and had to pull out of his match against Roger Federer with blisters while trailing 6-1, 5-2. He had already beaten Alexander Zverev in the third round and Novak Djokovic in the fourth.

The South Korean struggled with blisters for most of the rest of the year and also missed the French Open and Wimbledon with a right ankle injury.

“I had a lot of ups and downs in 2018, and I’m trying to fix parts of my game,” Chung said. “So far I’m not sure it’s working.”