Hong Kong’s top player, Huang Zelin, finished as runner‑up at the ATP Challenger event in Nansha on Sunday, October 25, 2026. The 23‑year‑old lost a 2‑hour, 14‑minute match to Australian Tristan Schoolkate, 6‑4, 6‑7(3‑7), 4‑6. Huang had reached the final for the seventh time in his career at this tournament. He had previously won his first ATP title in May at the Jiangxi Challenger in Jiujiang, China. The Nansha final was his second opportunity to claim a Challenger title, but he fell short after a hard‑fought three‑set battle. The match began with both players holding serve in the first four games, and the score reached 2‑2. Huang then broke Schoolkate’s serve and, with two aces in the tenth game, held his own serve to take the first set 6‑4. In the second set, Schoolkate broke early and held his serve to level the match at 1‑1. Huang won the third game of the set but Schoolkate broke again, and the set was decided by a tiebreak that Schoolkate won 7‑3. In the final set, Schoolkate broke Huang’s serve early and held his own to win 6‑4. Across the match, Huang served 25 aces, a career‑high for a single match. Over the five matches he played in the Nansha tournament, he recorded 101 aces. His first‑serve success rate in the final was 53%, down from 61% in earlier rounds. The loss leaves Huang in second place in the tournament’s final standings. His world ranking rose to No. 92 after reaching the quarter‑finals of the ATP 250 event in Los Cabos in August, and the Nansha result is expected to push him to at least No. 87.
Article source: Sing Tao Electronic Daily | Image credit: Sing Tao Electronic Daily