"Introduction of Ranking Points in Amateur Tournament... Attracted Tennis Enthusiasts"

'Tennis Jinheung Association Founding Figure' Chairman Seong Gi-chun
Age-Based Ranking System... 45 Amateur Tournaments Annually
Practices 300 Swings Daily Even at Age 74
Feels Popularity Among MZ Generation... Regrets Decrease in Sponsoring Companies

Novak Djokovic (37, Serbia), Carlos Alcaraz (21, Spain), Iga Swiatek (23, Poland), and other top tennis stars manage their careers based on ranking points calculated by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA).

Domestic amateur tennis enthusiasts in Korea also earn points based on their performance each time they participate in tournaments and receive rankings accordingly. The organization managing these ranking points is the Korea Amateur Tennis Association (KATA). We met KATA President Sung Ki-chun at the Olympic Park tennis courts on the 24th of last month. President Sung is one of the key figures who led the introduction of ranking points at KATA.

"At the end of 1995, together with Honorary President Shin Choong-sik of KATA and former Korea Tennis Association President Joo Won-hong, we established KATA and introduced ranking points. At first, some people questioned why ranking points were necessary, but after one or two years, amateur players gradually started to take an interest."

Like ATP and WTA players, the ranking points awarded became a catalyst for amateur tennis enthusiasts to become more engaged.

KATA President Sung Ki-chun posed before an interview with Asia Economy at the Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

KATA assigns rankings to male amateur tennis players by dividing them into youth (25 years and older), middle-aged (40 years and older), and veteran (50 years and older) categories. For former professional players, the age restrictions are higher. President Sung Ki-chun himself currently ranks 5th in the KATA veteran division. There are currently 370 players who have been awarded points in the veteran division alone. For women, any pure amateur aged 25 or older can register as a Gaenari division player. Winning in the Gaenari division or winning in the Gaenari division of the Korea Tennis Federation for Sports (KTFS) promotes players to the Gukhwa division, where they can compete at a higher level. KTFS is another tennis amateur organization that has operated a ranking system similar to KATA since 2008.

Currently, KATA organizes 45 amateur tennis tournaments annually based on these rankings. This means they hold almost one tournament every week. President Sung said, "Out of the 45 tournaments, KATA directly hosts 6 to 8, and participates as the organizer in the remaining tournaments."

President Sung Ki-chun runs tournaments every week while also competing as a player. Born in 1950, he is 74 years old this year. He has won approximately 150 amateur tennis tournaments to date. He confidently stated, "There is probably no one among Korean amateur tennis players who has won more than I have."

When asked about the secret to his success, President Sung said, "What secret could there be? It's just practice." His life revolves thoroughly around tennis. He said, "I wake up every day at 6:30 a.m., walk for 20 minutes, then practice 300 swings with a tennis racket weighted by a central weight." After his personal workout, he receives private lessons from a tennis coach. He spends his day so busily and usually goes to bed around 9 p.m. when he feels tired. If he has no overseas business trips or other schedules, he spends his weekends at the tennis courts.

President Sung hopes that through amateur tennis tournaments, the base of tennis will expand and that a global star who can lead a tennis renaissance in Korea will emerge. He expressed regret over the situation of Chung Hyeon (28), who reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2018, one of the four major tournaments, and achieved the highest ATP ranking ever for a Korean at 19th, but has struggled to make a comeback due to injuries.

"Large corporations need to take interest and invest, and young players need to gain a lot of experience competing on the world stage from an early age to produce world-class players. Currently, even though there are promising players, they lack sponsorship and therefore have no opportunities to gain experience in international tournaments."

KATA President Sung Ki-chun is posing for a photo during an interview with Asia Economy at the Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

In the past two to three years, tennis popularity has increased mainly among the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z). President Sung also felt this rise in tennis popularity, saying, "Many young people have joined." However, he lamented that corporate sponsorship for tennis has rather decreased. He said, "Before COVID-19, corporate sponsorship often provided major tournament tickets as prizes for winners of amateur tournaments, but now this has significantly decreased," adding, "This is because the dollar has become expensive and costs such as airfare have risen."

President Sung often thinks that he has no regrets even if he were to die now. This is because he survived a life-threatening battle with hepatitis B in his early 30s, fighting the illness for seven months. At that time, his wife was pregnant, and he prayed just to see the baby once. Fortunately, he miraculously survived and was able to watch his grown son start a family.

"I have had about 20 opportunities to watch major tournaments by winning many tennis tournaments. Thanks to that, there is hardly any place in the world I haven't been to. I have enjoyed so much through tennis, and I have no regrets even if I were to die on the tennis court. As long as my legs and body are healthy, I will play tennis forever. I still enjoy tennis and continue to dream of winning."