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

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. 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 Hoengseong County () is a county located in southwestern Gangwon Province, South Korea, bordering Pyeongchang County to the east, Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province to the west, Hongcheon County to the north, and the city of Wonju and Yeongwol ...

, 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 Chuncheon (; ; literally ''spring river''), formerly romanized as Ch'unch'ŏn, is the capital of Gangwon Province, South Korea. The city lies in the north of the country, located in a basin formed by the Soyang River and Han River (Korea), Han R ...

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 Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the A ...

. 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 ...

, and future

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

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 (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...

singles and doubles titles by winning the singles tournament at the

Sydney International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...

as a qualifier (beating

Juan Carlos Ferrero Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former professional tennis player and current coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Pro ...

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

Vladimir Voltchkov Vladimir Nikolayevich Voltchkov (, ''Uładzimir Mikałajevič Vałčkoŭ''; ; born April 7, 1978) is a Belarusian former professional tennis player. Voltchkov reached the semifinals at the 2000 Wimbledon Championships, where, as a qualifier, he ...

). At

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

, 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 as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...

in straight sets.

2006

In the second round at

, Lee was defeated by former champion and two-time semifinalist

Lleyton Hewitt Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) fo ...

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 Slovak 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 only th ...

. Lee was pit against

Guillermo Cañas Guillermo "Willy" Ignacio Cañas (; born November 25, 1977) is an Argentine former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked world No. 8 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in June 2005. Cañas wo ...

, 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 Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...

. 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 ( ; born 2 June 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 in November 2006. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tournam ...

, 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 was 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 was part of the "North American hard-court season". ...

, 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 integrat ...

in Los Angeles, the quarterfinals at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships and at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. 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 ranked as the world No. 3 in men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), winning 26 career doubles titles, including three majors and ...

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 ATP singles titles and five doubles titles in his caree ...

and No. 5 seed

David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in July 2013. Ferrer won 27 ATP Tour singles titles, including a ...

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 former 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 The United States Tennis Associatio ...

. The pair reached the third round of the 2005 French Open.

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 type of 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 s ...

. 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

References

External links