Following tennis legends, even active players currently ranked 1st and 2nd in the men’s singles world rankings are visiting Korea one after another. The popularity of domestic tennis is expected to grow even hotter due to the recent popularity of international competitions.
Hyundai Card recently announced that ‘Hyundai Card Super Match 14 Yannick Sinner VS Carlos Alcaraz‘ will be held at Inspire Resort Arena in Incheon on January 10th next year. 1st place Sinner (Italy) and 2nd place Alcaras (Spain) are both visiting Korea for the first time.
Last month, ‘Emperor’ Roger Federer (Switzerland) and ‘Soil God’ Rafael Nadal (Spain) visited Korea one after another, thrilling domestic fans. Federer and Nadal, who won 20 and 22 major singles titles, are retired but still enjoy popularity as top stars.
Federer visited Korea for the first time in 18 years for the ‘Around the World with Roger Federer’ event held at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul, China on October 13th. I had a great time giving one-point lessons to promising domestic players. Nadal also visited Korea for the first time in 12 years and signed a global partnership extension contract with Kia on the 23rd, continuing his partnership for 21 years.
Meanwhile, the current men’s tennis world rankings No. 1 and 2 visit Korea. Sinner said, “I’m very excited because I’ve heard Korean fans’ passionate love for tennis for a long time,” and Alcaras also expressed his anticipation, saying, “I’m excited to visit Korea for the first time, and I want to meet the fans who support me so passionately.”
The two are part of the ‘Big 3’, including Federer, Nadal, and Novak Djokovic (Serbia), who has won the most Grand Slam titles in history (24 times). This year, Sinner won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and Alcaras won the French Open and US Open.
Nadal (left) and Federer during the 2006 super match. Yonhap News
Many tennis stars have played in the Hyundai Card Super Match. These include Maria Sharapova (Russia) and Venus Williams (USA) in 2005, Federer and Nadal in 2006, Federer and Pete Sampras (USA) in 2007, and Djokovic and Andy Roddick (USA) in 2010. This is the first tennis super match in 16 years.
Korean tennis has been stagnating since the 2000s, when Orion coach Lee Hyung-taek reached the round of 16 of the US Open twice, but its popularity reignited when Chung Hyun (Mercury) became the first Korean player to advance to the semifinals of a major tournament at the 2018 Australian Open. Even Kwon Soon-woo (Armed Forces Athletic Corps) added his strength by winning the Men’s Professional Tennis (ATP) Tour after coach Lee, and a tennis craze spread among club members.
The revival of Hyundai Card’s Tennis Super Match is also in line. The finals of the Korea Open, a women’s professional tennis (WTA) tour, drew close to 10,000 spectators in 2017 and 2022, and this year too, a full crowd of 9,372 people attended the finals won by the world’s second-ranked Iga Sibiontech (Poland).
Winner Iga Civil Tech (left) and runner-up Ekaterina Alexandrova taking a commemorative photo on the podium in the singles final of this year’s Women’s Professional Tennis (WTA) Tour Korea Open. Yonhap News
This year’s ‘2025 Eugene Investment & Securities Seoul Open International Men’s Challenger Tennis Tournament’ proved the popularity of tennis in Korea, with 8,000 fans attending the finals even though it was not a tour tournament. Last September, many fans flocked to global sports brand Fila’s tennis festival ‘2025 White Open Seoul’.
This super match is hosted by Hyundai Card and organized by SEMA Sports Marketing and the Korea University Tennis Association. HM Group and Jeil Construction jointly participate as hosting partners, and will be broadcast live through tvN and TVING.
Tickets can be purchased through Interpark, with Hyundai Card pre-sale starting at noon on the 18th and general reservation starting at noon on the 19th. If you pay with a Hyundai Card, you can receive a 10% discount.
CBS No Cut News Reporter Lim Jong-ryul airjr@cbs.co.kr
There is no cut in the truth
