The 97th-ranked Tennys Sandgren – an American who had been more accustomed to plying his trade on the Challenger circuit – was his latest victim in a closely contested 6-4 7-6(5) 6-3 quarterfinal clash at Rod Laver Arena.

Chung admitted previous wins over world No.4 Alexander Zverev and six-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic to reach the last eight would likely have sparked an interest in the sport he ranked as a distant fifth in popularity back in his native South Korea.

“I think all the people are watching Australian Open now because we make history in Korea,” Chung said before he admitted he would not go quite so unnoticed back home after this Australian Open. “I think sure, yeah. Getting better and better all the time now.”

Nicknamed ‘The Professor’ for his white-framed glasses, the 21-year-old did not suffer the mental letdown after beating his childhood idol Djokovic on Monday night.

His latest result breaks huge new ground for the nation of 51 million people.

That moment. Chung's moment. ????#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/VVV86qQwuj

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2018

- Australian Open