Lee Hyung-taik

Lee Hyung-taik
Country (sports)	South Korea
Residence	Seoul, South Korea
Born	3 January 1976 (age 48); Hoengseong, South Korea
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro	1995
Retired	Nov 2009; comeback in 2015
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$2,355,686
Singles
Career record	161–164
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 36 (6 August 2007)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	2R (2003, 2008)
French Open	3R (2004, 2005)
Wimbledon	3R (2007)
US Open	4R (2000, 2007)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (2004)
Doubles
Career record	40–72
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 95 (16 January 2006)
Korean name
Hangul	이형택
Hanja	李亨澤
Revised Romanization	I Hyeong-taek
McCune–Reischauer	I Hyŏngt'aek
Medal record
Men's tennis
Representing South Korea
Asian Games
Summer Universiade

Lee Hyung-taik (Korean: 이형택, born 3 January 1976) is a former professional tennis player from South Korea. 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.^[1]

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, 13th seed Franco Squillari, and future Australian Open runner-up Rainer Schüttler.

2003

In 2003, Lee became the first Korean to win ATP Tour singles and doubles titles by winning the singles tournament at the Sydney International as a qualifier (beating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final) and the doubles tournament at the Siebel Open in San Jose, California (partnering with Belarusian Vladimir Voltchkov).

At Wimbledon, he was defeated in the first round by eventual champion Roger Federer in straight sets.

2006

In the second round at Wimbledon, Lee was defeated by former champion and two-time semifinalist Lleyton Hewitt 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. Lee was pit against Guillermo Cañas, 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, 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, Lee reached the semifinals at the Countrywide Classic 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.

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, Jarkko Nieminen and No. 5 seed David Ferrer 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. 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. He was coached by countryman and former ATP professional Yoon Yong-il (since March 2006).

Career finals

Singles: 2 (1–1)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 series (1–1)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	6 May 2001	Houston, United States	Clay	Andy Roddick	5–7, 3–6
Winner	1.	6 January 2003	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Juan Carlos Ferrero	4–6, 7–6^(8–6), 7–6^(7–4)

Doubles: 1 (1–0)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 series (1–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	10 February 2003	San Jose, United States	Hard (i)	Vladimir Voltchkov	Paul Goldstein Robert Kendrick	7–5, 4–6, 6–3

Television appearances

2020: King of Mask Singer (MBC), contestant as "Oriole" (episode 273)^[2]

References

^ 이형택 테니스 아카데미 지난 12일 문 열어 [Lee Hyung Taik Tennis Academy opened on 12] (in Korean). icross 뉴스. 2009-09-14. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
^ Lee Ah-young (September 20, 2020). "'복면가왕' 비쥬·이형택·최란·이혜성, 반가운 얼굴X반전 노래실력 (종합)". News1 (in Korean). Retrieved September 20, 2020.

[academy-1] 이형택 테니스 아카데미 지난 12일 문 열어 [Lee Hyung Taik Tennis Academy opened on 12] (in Korean). icross 뉴스. 2009-09-14. Retrieved 2010-01-13.

[2] Lee Ah-young (September 20, 2020). "'복면가왕' 비쥬·이형택·최란·이혜성, 반가운 얼굴X반전 노래실력 (종합)". News1 (in Korean). Retrieved September 20, 2020.

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