The story of Kwon Soon-Woo can easily be the plot of a sports movie. He has had a unique tennis journey so far and has even reached No. 52 on the rankings in 2021. He had managed to make it back to the same rank in 2023 but wasn’t able to maintain it for long. Soon-Woo’s rankings dropped soon after, and if this wasn’t enough, then he even had to halt his career in order to complete the mandatory 18 months of military service in December of 2024.

The 28-year-old was only able to compete in Challenger tournaments thanks to special permissions from the Athletic Corps of the South Korean Armed Forces. However, Soon-Woo’s performances have improved drastically, and he has already bagged three Challenger titles. This includes triumphs in Phan Thiet, Gwangju, and Wuxi. These wins saw him make his way back into the 200, and he has now secured a spot in the 2026 Wimbledon qualifiers.

What’s really impressive here is the fact that Soon-Woo has done all this while alternating between military drills and Challenger events. This is due to the South Korean law, which states that all able men between the ages of 18 and 35 should complete a mandatory military service that lasts for 18 to 21 months. Even top South Korean celebrities, pop stars, political figures, and more have to serve their time in the military. However, there are some athletes who have earned exemptions through their monumental success.

Though his military service won’t be completed anytime soon, Soon-Woo will still be granted permission to feature at Wimbledon and can likely be the only South Korean player playing the Grand Slam this year. This just shows that there is a genuine belief that Soon-Woo can make it to the main draw of The Championships. If Soon-Woo continues to go like this, then he can even make it to the qualifiers list of the US Open later this year.

Notably, Soon-Woo had opened up on the challenges that come with alternating between military and tennis after winning the Phan Thiet Challenger in January.

“I’m really happy to win this title. It hasn’t been easy to travel overseas while serving in the military, so I’m very thankful to the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps for their support and consideration, which made it possible for me to compete again,” he had said after his victory in the final.

Soon-Woo had previously made it to Wimbledon’s main draw in 2021 and had even defeated Daniel Masur in four sets to reach the second round. He had then given a tough fight to his second-round opponent Dominik Koepfer but had eventually come up short in a marathon five-set battle.

Soon-Woo had reached Wimbledon’s main draw in 2022 as well where he had met Novak Djokovic in the first round. Despite the South Korean’s valiant effort, it was the Serb who came out on top in four sets at the Centre Court. Soon-Woo then reached the main draw in the 2024 edition as well but suffered a first-round defeat to Holger Rune.

Interestingly, only a handful of South Korean players have been able to qualify for Wimbledon’s main draw since the Grand Slam’s inception.

The history of South Korean players at Wimbledon

Former ATP Pro Lee Hyung-Taik is the only South Korean player in history to reach the third round of Wimbledon back in 2007. He had also reached the main draw in 2002, ’05 and ’06 editions. Hyung-Taik is considered as one of the pioneers of tennis in South Korea and had made appearances in the main draws of every Grand Slam.

Chung Hyeon is another South Korean player who has made it to Wimbledon’s main draw. He had reached the stage during the 2015 edition but wasn’t able to go past the first round as he lost to Pierre-Hugues Herbert in five sets.

Chung Hyeon later went on to become the first South Korean player to be seeded at Wimbledon. He was ranked No. 26 in the 2018 edition but eventually withdrew from the tournament altogether.

As Soon-Woo now prepares to make his return to the Championships, his main aim would be to get past the qualifiers and reach the main draw for the fourth time. Will Soon-Woo be able to go the distance, or will his journey end in the qualifying rounds itself?