Lee Hyung-taik ( ko, 이형택, born 3 January 1976) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. He won one singles title and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 36, in August 2007.

Personal life

Lee was born in a potato-farming village in Hoengseong County, South Korea. He began playing tennis at age nine with a school teacher. After retirement, he is running his own academy in Gangwon Province in the tennis center at Song-ahm Sports Town in Chuncheon named “Lee Hyung Taik Tennis Academy”, which opened on 12 September 2009.

Tennis career

2000

With the help of Coach Hee june Choi, Lee made a splash at the US Open tournament, reaching the fourth round before losing to Pete Sampras. En route to his fourth-round appearance against Sampras, Lee defeated

Jeff Tarango Jeffrey Gail Tarango (born November 20, 1968) is a retired American tennis player. He was a top-ten doubles player and a runner-up at the 1999 French Open men's doubles tournament. He is now the Director of Tennis at the Jack Kramer Club, which ...

, 13th seed

Franco Squillari Franco Squillari (born 22 August 1975) is a former professional male tennis player from Argentina. He won 3 singles titles, reached the semifinals of the 2000 French Open and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 11. Career As a ...

, and future Australian Open runner-up

Rainer Schüttler Rainer Schüttler (; born 25 April 1976) is a German former professional tennis player. Schüttler was the runner-up at the 2003 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships. He won an Olympic silver medal in doubles ...

2003

In 2003, Lee became the first Korean to win

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...

singles and doubles titles by winning the singles tournament at the Sydney International as a qualifier (beating

Juan Carlos Ferrero Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player. He won the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year became the 21st player to hold the top ranking, which he h ...

in the final) and the doubles tournament at the Siebel Open in San Jose, California (partnering with Belarusian

Vladimir Voltchkov Vladimir Nikolayevich Voltchkov ( be, Уладзімір Мікалаевіч Валчкоў, ''Uładzimir Mikałajevič Vałčkoŭ''; russian: Владимир Николаевич Волчков; born April 7, 1978) is a Belarusian former profe ...

). At Wimbledon, he was defeated in the first round by eventual champion

Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-e ...

in straight sets.

2006

In the second round at Wimbledon, Lee was defeated by former champion and two-time semifinalist

Lleyton Hewitt Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He is the most recent Australian man to win a major singles title, with two at the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon Championships. In November 200 ...

in five sets, including three tie-breakers. Lee had set points in the third set tie-breaker, but went on to lose the set after an incorrect line call. As Lee went on to win the fourth set the call probably prevented him winning the match against the eventual quarterfinalist.

2007

Lee matched his best Grand Slam performance by making the fourth round of the US Open tournament. In the first round, he was forced to five sets before defeating

Dominik Hrbatý Dominik Hrbatý (; born 4 January 1978) is a Slovakian former professional tennis player. Hrbatý reached the semifinals of the 1999 French Open, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in October 2005. Hrbatý is one of onl ...

. Lee was pit against

Guillermo Cañas Guillermo Ignacio Cañas (; born November 25, 1977), often referred to as Willy Cañas, is a retired tennis player from Argentina. He was born in Buenos Aires and named after Argentine tennis star Guillermo Vilas. Cañas won the Canada Masters i ...

, who was the fourteenth seed in the tournament, in the second round. He defeated Cañas in three sets, setting up a third round showdown against nineteenth seed Andy Murray. Lee got out to a quick two set advantage against Murray, eventually winning in four sets. In the fourth round, Lee played fourth seed

Nikolay Davydenko Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko ( rus, Никола́й Влади́мирович Давыде́нко ; born 2 June 1981) is a Ukrainian-born Russian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 i ...

, who defeated the Korean in three sets. His fourth round showing at the US Open capped a very successful hardcourt series. During the

US Open Series The US Open Series is the name given by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to a series of North American professional tennis tournaments leading up to and including the US Open. It is part of the "North American hard court season". Emira ...

, Lee reached the semifinals at the

Countrywide Classic The Los Angeles Open was a former tennis tournament held in Los Angeles, United States from 1927 until 2012. It included a women's draw until 1974 when Linda Lewis won the last ladies title. Subsequently, it became a men-only event and integrated ...

in Los Angeles, the quarterfinals at the

Indianapolis Tennis Championships The Indianapolis Tennis Championships was an annual men's tennis tournament played in Indianapolis as part of the ATP Tour. Since its inaugural playing in 1987, the tournament was held for one week in July up until its final playing in 2009. Ori ...

and at the

Legg Mason Tennis Classic The Washington Open (known as the Citi Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual hardcourt tennis tournament played at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. The Washington Open is part of the ATP Tour 5 ...

. Lee set personal bests in a handful of categories, including match wins and money earned. He won a career-high 25 matches and earned $386,230. Overall, Lee compiled records of 16-15 on hard, 5-5 on clay, 3-3 on grass and 1-0 on carpet. In August, he achieved his career best ranking in singles as world No. 36 with the help of his coach, Hee june Choi.

2008

In the 2008 season, Lee had a disappointing losing streak and eventually fell out of the top 100. He did, however, match his best Masters Series result by making the fourth round of Indian Wells, beating

Michaël Llodra Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...

Jarkko Nieminen Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen (born 23 July 1981) is a Finnish former professional tennis player. His highest ranking of world No. 13, achieved in July 2006, is a Finnish record. He has won two Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles titles ...

and No. 5 seed

David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels on the ATP Tour ( ATP 250, ATP 500, Masters 1000) except at a major, ...

along the way.

2009

In 2009, Lee played one final time for Korea, in the Davis Cup Play-off between Korea and China. He announced his retirement from pro tennis after the Davis Cup match, with Korea triumphing 3-2.

Doubles

Lee sometimes played doubles alongside Korean-American player

Kevin Kim Kevin Kim (born July 26, 1978) is an American retired tennis player. Career He entered the top 100 in 2004, reaching a career-high singles ranking of World No. 63 in March 2005. In 1993, Kim won the USTA National Boys' 16 Indoor Doubles Champi ...

. The pair reached the third round of the

2005 French Open The 2005 French Open was the 109th edition of the tournament. On the men's side, Rafael Nadal, seeded fourth at his first French Open, was a strong favorite to win the singles title after winning the Monte Carlo and Rome Masters. Guillermo Cor ...

Playing style

Lee is right-handed and uses a single-handed backhand. He considers his backhand as his best shot. His favorite surface is

hardcourt A hardcourt (or hard court) is a surface or floor on which a sport is played, most usually in reference to tennis courts. It is typically made of rigid materials such as asphalt or concrete, and covered with acrylic resins to seal the surface and ...

. He was coached by countryman and former ATP professional Yoon Yong-il (since March 2006).

Personal life

Tennis career

2000

2003

2006

2007

2008

2009

Doubles

Playing style

ATP career finals

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 27 (22–5)

Doubles: 22 (14–8)

Performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

Filmography

Television shows

See also

References

External links