India, Sept. 18 -- Since April, Hyeon Chung has spent most of his time playing tennis on the Futures tour. It is the lowest level of professional tennis, often used as a springboard for budding players to launch themselves into the upper divisions.

It is also where journeymen and injured stars with fallen rankings try to rebuild their careers. Just like Chung.

This is the same Hyeon Chung who won the inaugural ATP Next Gen Finals in Milan in 2017. A few months later, at the 2018 Australian Open, he went on a run to the semi-final, beating Daniil Medvedev, fourth seed Alexander Zverev, and his idol Novak Djokovic. From reaching as high as world No.19, recurring back injuries caused him to fall drastically down the ranking ladder beyond t...