MELBOURNE, Australia – Eudice Chong '18, one of greatest individual competitors in the history of Wesleyan Athletics, is set to compete in the 2023 Australian Open qualifiers. Chong's first career appearance in a Grand Slam qualifying event is slated for Sunday night against Carol Zhao of Canada.
Chong's journey to a Grand Slam appearance has been an incredible ride that saw her Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranking grow from No. 548 in the world at the end of 2018 to as high as No. 366 for a three-year run from 2019 through 2022 up to now where she has progressed to No. 214 heading into 2023. During the pandemic, Chong spent nearly 18 months training at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, returning to the tour in October 2021 with a ranking outside of the Top 500, compared to No. 370 in 2019. Upon her return to the tour, Chong enjoyed a strong start with two titles and two defeats in finals at ITF W15 and W25 events – results that propelled her to No. 306 in the world.
The illustrious Wesleyan alum has spent more than a year, 58 weeks to be exact, away from home as she has competed in a slew of competitions that culminated in this milestone event. Chong has been playing the best tennis of her professional career heading into the Australian Open qualifier as she has reached two semifinals and two quarterfinals at ITF W60 events in Canada and the United States the last two months.
Chong was quoted in a recent
South China Morning Post report as saying, "being able to compete in the grand slams has always been my dream and goal since turning professional and I hope this is just the beginning, that there will be more slams to come."
The 2018 graduate from Wesleyan rewrote record books throughout her four years as a Cardinal. She captured four NCAA Singles Championships, becoming the first player in NCAA individual tournament history to win four consecutive singles titles in any division of college tennis. Her career was capped earning the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Senior Player of the Year and Division III Honda Athlete of the Year honors as a senior in 2017-18.
A four-time ITA First Team All-American in both singles and doubles, Chong was a three-time NESCAC Player of the Year. She earned NESCAC First Team honors in both singles and doubles all four years of her career while she added a fifth national title to her resume, winning the NCAA Doubles Championship as a junior in 2017. Chong finished her career as Wesleyan's all-time leader in singles victories, amassing a 103-6 record in four seasons.
