WATCH: Former Next Gen ATP Finals winner and Novak Djokovic slayer Hyeon Chung back in training after back injury
Back in 2017-18, South Korean sensation Hyeon Chung was the toast of the tennis fraternity. However, frequent injuries slowed him down and put him completely out of the picture.
One of the fastest rising stars on the circuit, Chung capped off the 2017 season with the Next Gen ATP Finals title. The win truly established him as the front-runner for the next generation.
The very next season, he made it to the semi-finals of the Australian Open, upsetting Novak Djokovic in straight sets along the way. The spectacular performance catapulted him to a career-high No. 19 in the world rankings.
While the tennis world looked forward to seeing the bespectacled Chung add more laurels to his resume, his body unfortunately didn't cooperate. Numerous injuries robbed him of building momentum. A serious back injury has laid him low since the 2020 French Open, where he lost in the second round of qualifying.
With his ranking having plummeted to 1195 and uncertainty around his return, many fans had probably given up hope of ever seeing him on the tour again. But those hopes have been rekindled by a video and photos that Hyeon Chung posted on his Instagram account on Wednesday, August 10.
The South Korean captioned the video, "Hello," adding an earth emoji. One can assume it is Chung's way of announcing his comeback to the world.
In the video, he can be seen hitting a few forehands and backhands, starting lightly and then gradually increasing the intensity. He also added a couple of photos of his bloody blisters after his practice sessions.
The fact that Chung was hitting pain-free after such a long hiatus will delight the tennis community. One can only hope that he remains healthy enough to make his way back to the tour as he still has a lot to offer.
Hyeon Chung also has wins over Daniil Medvedev & Alexander Zverev
In his short career so far, Hyeon Chung has already impressed immensely. His power, physicality and superb control from the baseline were spectacular to watch when he was in full flow.
Although injuries have marred his career, he was still able to notch up some big wins over the present-day stars of the game. During his run to the semi-finals of the 2018 Australian Open, he toppled current World No. 1 and 2, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, aside from beating Djokovic.
This was after he had already beaten Medvedev in the Next Gen ATP Finals just a couple of months earlier. The tournament in Milan also saw him scalp the likes of Denis Shapovalov and Andrey Rublev (twice) in what was a fairytale run.
Hyeon Chung, Next Gen ATP Finals 
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🇰🇷 Hyeon Chung, Next Gen ATP Finals 🏆 ➡️➡️ Australian Open semi-finalist. 👊🏼🙌🏼
#ATP #AusOpen
More ➡️➡️➡️ bit.ly/2Bpv5nj https://t.co/HStcvJAaXx
Chung currently has a 86-69 career win-loss record on the tour and is yet to taste ATP tour title glory. The Asian Games men's doubles gold medalist has nine titles to his name on the ATP Challenger circuit.
It will be interesting to see him return to the fold and hopefully add to that tally in the near future.