Taiwan’s top tennis player, Lu Yen-hsun (盧彥勳), continued a run of excellent early season form, knocking out world No. 3 David Ferrer yesterday in the semi-finals of the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand, to reach an ATP Tour final for the first time in his career.
Lu upended the Spaniard 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) in just under 90 minutes, setting up a showdown with third seed John Isner of the US, who battled past Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 in the earlier semi-final.
“It’s incredible,” Lu said after the win. “From the beginning of the match I just told myself to win one point, win one game and luckily I won two sets. I tried to play my best tennis and fortunately I did it. He’s very fast, I had to play aggressive and not give him time.”
Photo: AFP
“That was pretty amazing,” Lu said on his official Web site later, adding that even Ferrer was smiling wryly and shaking his head in disbelief at what had just happened during their post-match handshake.
“Overall, I played great today and I had the edge from the baseline. Ferrer was constantly counterattacking, but I held on at the key moments,” the 30-year-old Lu said, happy to be finally playing in his first final after more than a decade on the ATP Tour.
Ferrer had ruled the Heineken Open since 2011, but he had not been at his best in Auckland this year, needing three sets to put away lower-ranked opponents in his previous two matches, and Lu took advantage.
Photo: CNA
The world No. 62, who had lost only one set in his three wins against unseeded players on the way to the semi-finals, cashed in on two of his eight break points against Ferrer in the opening set, including one in the ninth game, to pull out in front.
After the two traded early breaks in the second set, Lu was steady enough to get the set to a tiebreaker.
He gained the edge with two mini-breaks and eventually put Ferrer away when the Spaniard hit a return long.
Ferrer usually grinds his opponents down with his consistency and persistence, but Lu faces a challenge of a different kind against the 2.08m Isner, known for his bullet serves.
The last time the two played was in 2011 on a hard court, with Isner winning 6-1, 6-2.
Whatever happens today, Lu will be gratified by his play in Auckland heading into Monday’s Australian Open after having had to pull out of last week’s Chennai Open with a thigh injury.
After intensive treatment, his thigh — and his game — has held up and he should be carrying some momentum into the year’s first Grand Slam.
Lu’s best result in the Australian Open is reaching the third round in both 2009 and 2012, but he will have a tough road this year if he hopes to match or surpass that.
Though he plays a qualifier in the opening round, he would likely have to get by two big hitters — No. 22 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and 11th seed Milos Raonic of Canada — to move beyond the third round.
Among the potential qualifiers Lu could start the tournament against are two Taiwanese.
Jimmy Wang (王宇佐) and Yang Tsung-hua (楊宗樺) both play final-round qualifying matches today for spots in the main draw.
In the women’s singles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇), whose ranking has dropped to 85th in the world, opens against world No. 83 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, while world No. 232 Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然) of Taiwan commences her campaign against world No. 65 Christina McHale of the US.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)