Lee Hyung-taik

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.

Lee Hyung-taik

Country (sports)	South Korea
Residence	Seoul, South Korea
Born	(1976-01-03) 3 January 1976 (age 47) Hoengseong, South Korea
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro	1995
Retired	2009
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)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2005, 2008)
French Open	3R (2005)
Wimbledon	1R (2003, 2005, 2007)
US Open	2R (2003, 2007)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (2000)
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 1998 Bangkok Men's team 2006 Doha Men's team 1998 Bangkok Men's doubles 2002 Busan Men's singles 2002 Busan Men's doubles 2002 Busan Men's team 2006 Doha Men's singles Summer Universiade 1997 Catania Men's doubles 1999 Palma Men's singles 1995 Fukuoka Men's singles
Last updated on: 21 July 2022.

In this Korean name, the family name is Lee.

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 at the 2007 US Open

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 with the help of his coach, Hee June Choi.

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).

ATP career finals

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Legend Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP Masters 1000 Series (0–0) ATP 500 Series (0–0) ATP 250 Series (1–1)

Finals by surface Hard (1–0) Clay (0–1) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Finals by setting Outdoors (1–1) Indoors (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	May 2001	Houston, United States	World Series	Clay	Andy Roddick	5–7, 3–6
Win	1–1	Jan 2003	Sydney, Australia	World Series	Hard	Juan Carlos Ferrero	4–6, 7–6^(8–6), 7–6^(7–4)

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

Legend Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP Masters 1000 Series (0–0) ATP 500 Series (0–0) ATP 250 Series (1–0)

Finals by surface Hard (1–0) Clay (0–0) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Finals by setting Outdoors (0–0) Indoors (1–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Feb 2003	San Jose, United States	World Series	Hard	Vladimir Voltchkov	Paul Goldstein   Robert Kendrick	7–5, 4–6, 6–3

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 27 (22–5)

Legend ATP Challenger (13–4) ITF Futures (9–1)

Finals by surface Hard (16–3) Clay (1–1) Grass (0–0) Carpet (5–1)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	May 1998	Korea F1, Sogwipo	Futures	Hard	Paradorn Srichaphan	6–3, 6–3
Win	2–0	Jun 1998	Korea F2, Sogwipo	Futures	Hard	Nir Welgreen	6–0, 6–3
Win	3–0	Jun 1998	Canada F2, Montreal	Futures	Hard	Michael Russell	6–0, 7–5
Win	4–0	Jul 1998	Canada F3, Boucherville	Futures	Hard	James Sekulov	4–6, 6–4, 6–1
Loss	4–1	Aug 1998	Lexington, United States	Challenger	Hard	Paul Goldstein	1–6, 4–6
Win	5–1	Oct 1998	Japan F4, Maishima	Futures	Carpet	Yoon Yong-Il	7–6, 2–6, 6–4
Win	6–1	Mar 1999	Japan F1, Isawa	Futures	Clay	Gouichi Motomura	7–6, 1–6, 5–2 ret.
Win	7–1	May 1999	China F1, Beijing	Futures	Hard	Dmitriy Tomashevich	6–3, 6–2
Win	8–1	May 1999	China F2, Shenyang	Futures	Hard	Danai Udomchoke	6–0, 6–0
Loss	8–2	May 1999	Korea F2, Seoul	Futures	Clay	Baek Seung-bok	6–3, 2–6, 2–6
Win	9–2	Oct 1999	Japan F5, Kobe	Futures	Carpet	Kwon Oh-Hee	6–1, 7–5
Win	10–2	Nov 1999	Yokohama, Japan	Challenger	Carpet	Paradorn Srichaphan	6–3, 6–0
Win	11–2	Aug 2000	Bronx, United States	Challenger	Hard	Reginald Willems	6–4, 6–1
Win	12–2	Nov 2000	Seoul, South Korea	Challenger	Hard	Radek Štěpánek	6–4, 6–4
Loss	12–3	Nov 2000	Osaka, Japan	Challenger	Hard	Michel Kratochvil	6–2, 2–6, 2–6
Win	13–3	Oct 2001	Seoul, South Korea	Challenger	Hard	Gouichi Motomura	6–3, 6–4
Win	14–3	Dec 2002	Yokohama, Japan	Challenger	Carpet	John van Lottum	2–6, 7–6^(2–7), 7–6^(8–6)
Win	15–3	Sep 2003	Seoul, South Korea	Challenger	Hard	Dennis van Scheppingen	6–3, 6–3
Win	16–3	Sep 2004	Seoul, South Korea	Challenger	Hard	Jean-René Lisnard	3–6, 7–5, 6–2
Loss	16–4	Dec 2004	Port Louis, Mauritius	Challenger	Hard	Andrei Pavel	3–6, 1–6
Win	17–4	Oct 2005	Seoul, South Korea	Challenger	Hard	Nicolas Thomann	4–6, 6–1, 7–6^(8–6)
Win	18–4	Jun 2006	Busan, South Korea	Challenger	Hard	Danai Udomchoke	6–3, 6–2
Win	19–4	Jul 2006	Lexington, United States	Challenger	Hard	Amer Delić	5–7, 6–2, 6–3
Win	20–4	Nov 2006	Seoul, South Korea	Challenger	Hard	Björn Phau	6–2, 6–2
Win	21–4	Oct 2008	Seoul, South Korea	Challenger	Hard	Ivo Minář	6–4, 6–0
Win	22–4	Nov 2008	Yokohama, Japan	Challenger	Carpet	Go Soeda	7–5, 6–3
Loss	22–5	Nov 2008	Toyota, Japan	Challenger	Carpet	Go Soeda	2–6, 6–7^(7–9)

Doubles: 22 (14–8)

Legend ATP Challenger (5–4) ITF Futures (9–4)

Finals by surface Hard (10–5) Clay (3–1) Grass (0–0) Carpet (1–2)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Oct 1996	Seoul, South Korea	Challenger	Clay	Yoon Yong-Il	Fredrik Bergh   Patrik Fredriksson	6–4, 6–4
Win	2–0	Mar 1998	Philippines F2, Manila	Futures	Hard	Chen Chih-Jung	David Caldwell   Chris Tontz	6–1, 6–4
Win	3–0	May 1998	China F2, Tianjin	Futures	Hard	Yoon Yong-Il	Chen Chih-Jung   Andrian Raturandang	6–1, 5–7, 6–3
Loss	3–1	Jul 1998	Canada F3, Boucherville	Futures	Hard	Yoon Yong-Il	Tad Berkowitz   Javier Gutierrez-Lima	3–6, 6–1, 3–6
Win	4–1	Oct 1998	Japan F4, Maishima	Futures	Carpet	Yoon Yong-Il	Chen Chih-Jung   Lin Bing-Chao	6–4, 1–4 ret.
Loss	4–2	Mar 1999	Kyoto, Japan	Challenger	Carpet	Giorgio Galimberti	Julian Knowle   Lorenzo Manta	1–6, 7–6, 2–6
Win	5–2	Mar 1999	Japan F1, Isawa	Futures	Clay	Kevin Kim	Mitty Arnold   Todd Meringoff	6–4, 6–4
Loss	5–3	May 1999	Korea F1, Seoul	Futures	Clay	Han Min-kyu	Chung Hee-Seok   Chung Hee-sung	4–6, 4–6
Win	6–3	May 1999	Korea F2, Seoul	Futures	Clay	Kim Dong-Hyun	Han Min-kyu   Lee Sang-Hoon	6–3, 6–4
Loss	6–4	Aug 1999	Binghamton, United States	Challenger	Hard	Kevin Kim	Mitch Sprengelmeyer   Jason Weir-Smith	7–5, 4–6, 2–6
Loss	6–5	Oct 1999	Japan F5, Kobe	Futures	Carpet	Danai Udomchoke	Tasuku Iwami   Ryuso Tsujino	5–7, 6–4, 4–6
Win	7–5	May 2000	Japan F4, Fukuoka	Futures	Hard	Yoon Yong-Il	Doug Bohaboy   Alex Witt	6–7^(4–7), 7–5, 6–2
Win	8–5	Jul 2000	Granby, Canada	Challenger	Hard	Yoon Yong-Il	Frédéric Niemeyer   Jerry Turek	7–6^(7–3), 6–3
Win	9–5	Jul 2000	Winnetka, United States	Challenger	Hard	Yoon Yong-Il	Matthew Breen   Luke Smith	2–6, 7–5, 6–3
Loss	9–6	Aug 2000	Bronx, United States	Challenger	Hard	Yoon Yong-Il	Petr Luxa   Wesley Whitehouse	6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Win	10–6	Sep 2003	Seoul, South Korea	Challenger	Hard	Alex Kim	Alex Bogomolov Jr.   Jeff Salzenstein	1–6, 6–1, 6–4
Win	11–6	May 2004	Korea F1, Seogwipo	Futures	Hard	Im Kyu-Tae	Chung Hee-Seok   Chung Hee-sung	7–5, 6–4
Win	12–6	Mar 2006	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	Challenger	Hard	Cecil Mamiit	Jacob Adaktusson   Dudi Sela	6–4, 6–2
Loss	12–7	Apr 2006	Korea F3, Seogwipo	Futures	Hard	Chung Hee-Seok	Jun Woong-sun   Kim Sun-Yong	2–6, 0–6
Win	13–7	Apr 2014	Korea F1, Seoul	Futures	Hard	Lim Yong-kyu	Henrique Cunha   Daniel Nguyen	6–2, 4–6, [10–4]
Loss	13–8	May 2015	Seoul, South Korea	Challenger	Hard	Danai Udomchoke	Gong Maoxin   Peng Hsien-yin	4–6, 5–7
Win	14–8	May 2015	Korea F1, Daegu	Futures	Hard	Hong Seong Chan	Nam Jisung   Song Min-kyu	6–3, 6–3

Performance timelines

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

P#

DNQ

A

Z#

PO

G

S

B

NMS

NTI

P

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

Tournament	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	SR	W–L	Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	Q1	A	A	Q1	Q1	1R	A	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	2R	Q1	0 / 7	2–7	22%
French Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	1R	3R	3R	Q1	1R	2R	A	0 / 6	5–6	45%
Wimbledon	A	A	A	A	Q2	1R	2R	1R	Q2	2R	2R	3R	1R	A	0 / 7	5–7	42%
US Open	A	A	Q1	Q1	4R	1R	1R	2R	3R	1R	2R	4R	1R	A	0 / 9	10–9	53%
Win–loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	3–1	0–3	1–3	2–4	4–3	3–4	2–3	5–4	2–4	0–0	0 / 29	22–29	43%
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	A	Not Held			1R	Not Held			2R	Not Held			1R	NH	0 / 3	1–3	25%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells	A	A	A	A	A	Q1	Q1	1R	1R	1R	A	1R	4R	A	0 / 5	3–5	38%
Miami	A	A	A	A	A	1R	Q1	4R	1R	3R	A	1R	1R	A	0 / 6	5–6	45%
Monte Carlo	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	1R	A	3R	1R	A	0 / 4	3–4	43%
Hamburg	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	NMS	0 / 1	0–1	0%
Rome	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	0 / 1	0–1	0%
Canada	A	A	A	A	A	1R	2R	1R	1R	A	2R	1R	A	A	0 / 6	2–6	25%
Cincinnati	A	A	A	A	A	2R	2R	1R	A	A	2R	A	A	A	0 / 4	3–4	43%
Win–loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–3	2–2	4–6	0–3	2–3	2–2	2–4	3–4	0–0	0 / 27	16–27	37%

Doubles

Tournament	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	SR	W–L	Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	1R	2R	A	1R	2R	0 / 5	2–5	29%
French Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	3R	A	2R	2R	0 / 4	5–4	56%
Wimbledon	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	1R	A	1R	A	0 / 3	0–3	0%
US Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	A	A	2R	A	0 / 2	2–2	50%
Win–loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	2–4	0–1	3–3	0–0	2–4	2–2	0 / 14	9–14	39%
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	1R	Not Held			2R	Not Held			A	Not Held			A	0 / 2	1–2	33%

Filmography

Television shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2020	King of Mask Singer	Contestant	as "Oriole" – (episode 273)	^[2]
2022	Can't Cheat Blood	Participant		^[3]
2022–2023	Korea Badminton	Cast Member		^[4]
2023	Tomorrow's Winning Shot	Director		^[5]

References

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.
3. Kim Hye-jeong (December 23, 2021). "이형택×남현희×박찬민, 채널A 新 예능 '피는 못 속여' 합류" [Hyung-Taek Lee × Hyun-Hee Nam × Chan-Min Park to join Channel A's new entertainment show ‘Cheat You Can’t Bleed’] (in Korean). Sports Kyunghyang. Retrieved December 23, 2021 – via Naver.
4. Kim Won-gyeom (December 18, 2022). "이형택, 테니스 잘하면 배드민턴도 잘할까…셔틀콕 전국대회 우승 도전" [Lee Hyung-taek, if you're good at tennis, will you be good at badminton? Challenge to win the Shuttlecock National Competition]. Sports TV News (in Korean). Retrieved December 18, 2022 – via Naver.
5. Kim, Chae-yeon (March 22, 2023). "내일은 위닝샷' 이형택, 국내 최초 테니스 예능에 두근.."많이 와야 하는데 아~" [‘Tomorrow is a Winning Shot’ Lee Hyeong-taek, Korea's first tennis entertainment, excited.."I have to come a lot, but ah~] (in Korean). OSEN. Retrieved March 22, 2023 – via Naver.

External links

• (in Korean)
• Lee Hyung-taik at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Lee Hyung-taik at the International Tennis Federation  
• Lee Hyung-taik at the Davis Cup  
• ATP interview^{[permanent dead link]}