Lu Yen-hsun wins Taiwan Challenge

Lu Yen-hsun (盧彥勳) defeated tournament top-seed Dudi Sela of Israel 6-3, 6-3 to claim the title in the ATP Taiwan Challenge in Kaohsiung yesterday.

Lu, the tournament's second seed, broke Seal's serve four times to win the first professional tennis tournament in Taiwan since 1993, making him the first Taiwanese champion.

After ceding the first set in his first-round match against Amin Sandbichler of Austria in a tie-break, Lu won his next four matches in straight sets.

Sela, with an ATP singles ranking of 70, won the doubles title together with Stephen Armitraj of India.

An ATP official supervising the tournament said it was well organized with good equipment and facilities, and that if some smaller details such as the nets and the color of the surface were improved, there would be no problems for Taiwan's arranging tournaments at a higher level in future.

The tournament, with a purse of US$50,000, opened at the Yangming Tennis Center in Kaohsiung on Nov. 10 and featured forty-six players from 20 countries.