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Lu Yen-hsun wins at Japan Open

On a rain-affected day, Taiwan's No.1 male tennis player Lu Yen-hsun fought off a ferocious challenge from Asian Games gold medalist Danai Udomchoke to move into the Japan Open second round yesterday.

Lu, ranked 96 in the world, fought back from a set down to win the next two and run out eventual winner 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (9/7), 6-1.

The Thai needed court-side treatment at 3-4 down in the second set for back pain.

But Danai dug deep and broke back to level at 5-5, and then went ahead 7-6 in the tie-breaker -- only to see Lu fire a service ace before hitting a forehand winner to level the contest at one-set all.

Danai, ranked 122 in the world, saved two break points in the fourth game of the final set, but Lu took the next to move 3-1 up and never looked back.

It was the first encounter on the ATP tour between the two players after having a 4-4 record in the Challengers and Futures series.

Taiwanese tennis stars Chuang Chia-jung (莊佳容) and Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) continued their winning streak over the weekend by capturing the Korea Open women's doubles title in Seoul on Sunday.

It was their second doubles title in as many weeks following their victory at the China Open on Sept. 23.

They defeated second seeds Eleni Daniilidou of Greece and Jasmin Woehr of Germany 6-2, 6-2 to win the the US$145,000 first prize.

Chuang and Hsieh stormed to a 4-0 lead in the first set before their opponents rallied to take the next two games. The Taiwanese pair then won the next two games to take the set 6-2.

The second set followed a similar pattern with the Taiwanese duo racing into a 3-0 lead before eventually winning 6-2.
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