Coleman Wong’s history-making performance at the Miami Open will serve as a huge morale boost for the SAR’s next generation of tennis players, Hong Kong, China’s tennis chief said on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old became the first-ever player from the SAR to get a win at a Masters 1000 match, and reached the event’s round of 32.

Michael Cheng, president of Hong Kong China Tennis Association, said it was a remarkable achievement.

“The draw size of a 1000 event is actually 96, which means that we're putting him inside the top 100 players in the world and he is able to get through a couple of rounds,” he told RTHK.

“He's done something which no one has done before in Hong Kong.”

The city’s tennis boss said Wong’s groundbreaking result would inspire a lot of young players in the city.

“What we're looking at in the tennis generation here overall is to make sure that one generation is better than the last one,” he said.

Meanwhile, tennis has retained its "Tier A" sport status for two more years, avoiding a significant funding cut.

Cheng said the decision is vital to the development of the sport in the city.

“It's not just about the funding, but it's also about the coaching and the technical support and the strength and conditioning support and the sports science support coming from the Sports Institute.

“If you put it all together, it's the complete package,” he said.