Lee Hyung-taik

Lee Hyung-taek
Country (sports)	South Korea
Residence	Seoul, South Korea
Born	January 3, 1976 (age 48); Hoengseong, South Korea
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro	1995
Retired	November 1, 2009; comeback in 2015
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$ 2,257,901
Singles
Career record	156–156
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 36 (August 6, 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	40–69
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 95 (January 16, 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

Template:Korean name

Lee Hyung-taek (Korean: 이형택, born January 3, 1976) is a 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 named “Lee Hyung Taik Tennis Academy” in Gangwon Province.^[1]

Tennis career

2000

Lee made a splash at the 2000 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, thirteenth seed Franco Squillari, and 2003 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 Adidas International in Sydney as a qualifier (beating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final) and the doubles tournament at the Siebel Open in San Jose (partnering with Belarusian Vladimir Voltchkov).

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

2006

In the second round of the 2006 Wimbledon, Lee was defeated by former champion and two-time semi-finalist Lleyton Hewitt in five sets, including three tie-breakers. Lee had set points in the third set tie-breakers, 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 quarter-finalist.

2007

Lee matched his best Grand Slam performance in 2007 by making the fourth round of the 2007 US Open tournament. In the first round, Lee 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. Lee 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 open series. During the 2007 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. Lee 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, Lee 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 playoff between Korea and China. He announced his retirement from pro tennis after the Davis Cup match, with Korea triumping 3-2.

He opened the "Lee Hyung Taik Tennis Academy" in the tennis center at Song-ahm Sports Town in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province on 12 September 2009.^[1]

Doubles

Lee has sometimes played doubles alongside Korean-American player Kevin Kim. The pair reached the third round of the French Open 2005.

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 Finals (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 in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1.	May 6, 2001	Houston, United States	Clay	Andy Roddick	5–7, 3–6
Winner	1.	January 6, 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 Finals (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 in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1.	February 10, 2003	San Jose, United States	Hard (i)	Vladimir Voltchkov	Paul Goldstein Robert Kendrick	7–5, 4–6, 6–3

References

^ ^a ^b 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.

[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.

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