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Next week, on the weekend of February 4 and 5, the Belgian Davis Cup team will face South Korea in Seoul in the qualifications of the Davis Cup. Captain Johan Van Herck announced his final selection on Monday. Compared to the pre-selection at the beginning of January, Joris De Loore (ATP 219) joins the team in place of Kimmer Coppejans (ATP 220).
Bron: BELGIAN
The 29-year-old from Bruges got off to an excellent start in 2023. He completed two Challenger tournaments in Oeiras, Portugal. In the first tournament he became the overall winner, a week later he lost the final.
David Goffin (ATP 50), Zizou Bergs (ATP 130) and the double duo Joran Vliegen (ATP double 51) and Sander Gillé (ATP double 52) are the other selected Belgians.
“We can travel with a strong Belgian team and hope to qualify again for the Finals later this year”, Van Herck looked ahead. “With David we have a player with a lot of Davis Cup experience in the selection, Zizou made it to the main draw in Australia for the first time and our doubles team, consisting of Joran and Sander, has started the season strongly. We are also happy to welcome Joris back to the team after several years of absence after some good performances at the Challenger circuit. Our three singles players will also take part in the Challenger in Belgium this week (the BW Open from 24 to 29 January, ed.). This will be an ideal and final preparation before leaving for South Korea.”
The winner of the meeting between South Korea and Belgium qualifies for the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals. It will be played in September.
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Soonwoo Kwon leads the South Korean selection
Soonwoo Kwon (ATP 52) is the spearhead of South Korea in next weekend’s Davis Cup meeting (February 4 and 5) against Belgium. The 25-year-old Kwon won the ATP tournament in Adelaide in mid-January, in preparation for the Australian Open. There he was killed in the first round.
Kwon led his team to a 3-1 win against Austria in qualifying last year. The South Koreans then lost all three of their matches in the group stage.
The rest of Captain Seung-Kyu Park’s team consists of Seong-chan Hong (ATP 257), Minkyu Song (ATP double 147) and Jisung Nam (ATP double 153). The team already gathered on Sunday to prepare at the training center in Jincheon.
It will be the second Davis Cup meeting between Belgium and South Korea. Belgium won the first game in 1990 4-1.