Lee Hyung-teak Wins First Pair Title

Lee Hyung-taek became the first Korean to win the ATP Tour title in doubles.

In a men`s pair final match held in San Jose in California on February 17, 66th-ranking Lee teamed up with 80th-ranking Belarusian Vladmir Voltchkov and beat Paul Goldstein and Robert Kendrick from the U.S. by two to one (7-5, 4-6 and 6-3). The pair won the ATP title with $165 million in prize.

Lee, who won the first Korean single title in ATP Tour last month in Sydney International, set a new record by grabbing the pair title as well.

Lee had difficult times earlier as his partner Voltchkov, who had advanced to the semi-final in Wimbledon in 2000, trailed in the early part of the game. The pair, however, came back to dominate with strong volleys and stable returns.

Lee will play in Kroger Saint Jude Championships with Cho Yoon-jeong (Samsung Securities) in Memphis starting from February 18.

He will face with 98th-ranking American Justin Gimestop, and 61st-ranking Cho with 128th American Masherna Washington.

Meanwhile, in the single final, top-seeder Andrea Agassi, having won the Australia Open championship last month, beat Italian Davide Sanquinetti and won his fifth title in ATP Tour tying the earlier record. The world`s second rank snatched 12 victories in a row.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com