Lee Hyung-tack Advances to Semifinal

Korea`s star tennis player Lee Hyung-tack (27, Samsung Securities) advanced to the semifinal on default.

The default winning occurred yesterday in the men`s singles quarterfinal of ATP Tour Adidas International (total prize money: $380,000) held in Sydney, Australia. The previous day, Lee toppled world No. 10 Andy Roddick in the round of eight and advanced to the quarterfinal. But Marat Safin (Russia), who occupies the 3rd spot in the world ranking, gave up the match due to his injury. Consequently, Lee could secure his spot in the semifinal without any efforts on his part.

This is the third time Lee has made into the semifinal of the world championships. In the Samsung Open 2000, he landed on the semifinal. Again in April of 2001, Lee made inroads onto the final in US Men`s Clay Court Championship 2001 that took place in Houston, USA. But he lost the championship to Roddick.

Safin gave up on the game due to the inflammation on his right shoulder. The severity of the injury would probably deter him from participating in the Australia Open, a major championship of this season scheduled for January 13th.

Lee has shot down world`s big shots in this championship. On top of the performance, luck also helped him advance to the semifinal. Lee will take on the winner of another semifinal match between Rainer Schuettler and Juan Carlos Ferrero for the ticket to the final. Schuettler met with Lee in US Open 2000. Lee beat him at that time. Schuettler now ranks at 81st. Ferrero has not met with Lee so far. Ferrero has won 14 championships so far, and ranks at 41st.

Samsung`s coach Choi Hee-jun said, "Lee could beat anyone, considering his experience and upward spirits."

After snatching up a win on default, Lee warmed up on the court for about an hour in the afternoon, and did the weight-training.

In the meanwhile, Paradorn Srichaphan, the hero of Thailand, lost the quarterfinal to Ferrero.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com