Hyeon Chung and his quirky glasses. Photo / Getty Images
Hyeon Chung and his quirky glasses. Photo / Getty Images
As a child, Korean tennis star Hyeon Chung had terrible eyesight, so his father suggested he take up tennis to improve his vision.
Chung's father believed encouraging his son to focus on the court's green surface would sharpen his focus, reports news.com.au.
He probably didn't expect that this throwaway advice would land his son in the history books, as Chung became the first Korean player to ever reach a Grand Slam semi-final on Wednesday afternoon, defeating America's Tennys Sandgren in three sets at the Australian Open.
The 21-year-old is ranked 58th in the world but has become an unlikely fan favourite thanks to his bold playing style and quirky white glasses.
His frames have even earned him a fun nickname - "The Professor".
"I have high-level astigmatism. I have to wear the glasses all the time," Chung told ESPN last December.
"By now they're part of my body so it's not difficult to play wearing them."
In the absence of any homegrown talent to back at the Australian Open, Aussie fans have thrown their support behind the young up-and-comer on social media.
"Sometimes they can limit your peripheral vision, so you'll notice Chung wears a wraparound style and it's not a huge deal in tennis because you're facing front on most of the time, hitting back and forth."
Chung's glasses are "almost like swimming goggles", designed to prevent slipping and fogging caused by heat and sweat.
I mean if you can play tennis and wear glasses at the same time you're already a hero in my book. #AusOpen#Chung
"They have an elasticised band at the back to keep them on and he has rubber nose pads and grips along the temples to keep them stuck to his face," Mr Arundel said.
"You can get issues with glasses like heat and sweat and fogging up."
As for why Chung doesn't wear contacts? Well, every glasses-wearer is different and it's a personal preference.
