Hong Kong tennis ace Coleman Wong reached his career-high No. 88 in the latest ATP rankings despite a runner-up finish at the Guangzhou Nansha International Challenger.
The 22-year-old top seed faced Australia's Tristan Schoolkate in Sunday's final, taking the first set 6-4.
Yet a hard-fought battle lasting around 2 hours and 15 minutes swung the match away from Wong, who lost the next two sets 6-7, 4-6.
He fell 1-2 in sets to finish runner-up, missing a second ATP title after his May triumph at the Jiangxi Open in Jiujian.
It marked his first loss to Schoolkate in four meetings, though it lifted his world ranking four places to No.88.
Wong, fresh off winning the city's first Asian Games tennis men's singles gold earlier this month, returned briefly to Hong Kong after the Rolex Shanghai Masters before heading to the Nansha Challenger as the top seed last Monday.
He beat Australia's Jake Delaney, Thailand's Kasidit Samrej, Japan's Jay Friend and China’s rising star Zhou Yi to reach his seventh ATP Challenger final.
