Lee Hyung-taik advances Quarterfinals

Lee Hyung-taik, Korea’s tennis ace(25, Samsung Stock), advanced quarterfinals for two consecutive weeks at the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour.

On May 3, eighth-seeded Lee Hyung-taik, ranked 81st in the world, defeated Magnus Larsson(31, Sweden) 2-1(6-0, 4-6, 7-5) at the US Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas. Lee, who ousted Michael Chang(U.S) to advance quarterfinals at the Verizon Challenge last week, ensured 40 ranking point and $9350 prize money by moving on to third round.

Lee Hyung-taik will face second-seeded Australian Andrew Ilie, ranked 59th in the world, to advance a semifinal match. Ilie, who was born in Romania, made his professional debut in 1994, moved up to 38th place in the world ranking last May, and won two titles in men’s singles.

He was defeated by Andre Aggasi at fourth round in 2000 Australian Open. His unique manners like tearing off his shirt after game, and aggressive play style have drawn much attentions.

He has had several practice games with Lee Hyung-taik, but this would the first match at an official tournament. Experts prospected he, having strong ground strokes, is worthwhile competing. If Lee defeats Ilie, he will be a second-time semifinalist in his career after Samsung Open Tennis Tournament, last November.

Lee Hyung-taik overpowered Larsson, a semifinalist in 1994 French Open and ranked 17th in the world in 1995, without loss of game at the first set. But Larsson fought back with powerful top-spins at the second set, and made a tie. In the third set, Lee had a hazardous sign of loss at 15-40, game score 4-4, but managed to recover by capturing the ninth game.

Meanwhile, top-seeded, Jan-Michael Gambill (US) was ousted by Christian Rudd (Norway).

Kim Jong-Seok kjs0123@donga.com