Taiwanese players failed to shine in the singles tournaments at the Australian Open, but in terms of fans, Taiwan has more than held its own.
There were national flags large and small, painted faces and a sign that said “Surprise us again Lu” on display when Lu Yen-hsun took to the court for his first-round clash against Gilles Simon of France on Monday.
Verbal encouragement consisted chiefly of cries of jiayou, although some fans sporadically broke into a little song, the lyrics of which consisted of repetitions of the name “Lu.” There was even an occasional shout of “Taiwan.”
Photo: AFP
The Taiwanese fans are a mixed bunch, mostly in their 20s, but with a few older faces. They included friends, classmates, spouses and even an adult son with his father. For most of them it was their first time at the Australian Open and Lu’s run to the quarter-finals at last year’s Wimbledon seemed to have prompted many to make the trek to Melbourne Park.
Zoe Lu (no relation) was one of a number of Taiwanese living in Australia who had taken the opportunity to re-connect with their roots. Explaining how she’d never been to the tournament before, despite having been in the country for five years, she said Lu’s struggle to reach the top of the tennis tree had prompted her to come along and cheer him on.
“He’s had to struggle to raise the money to allow him to compete, so it’s quite an inspiring story,” said the IT support worker, originally from Taichung.
Gary Lai, 28, also expressed his admiration for the man whose heroics at Wimbledon, including an epic five-set victory over US star Andy Roddick, made headlines around the world.
“He’s [Lu] a superstar,” said Lai, who is on a working holiday in Australia.
“Many Taiwanese in Australia have come to support the Taiwanese players and have arranged to meet up in Melbourne through a backpackers Web site,” said Lai, who has been working in Gold Coast.
Some support came from unusual sources.
Antonio from Italy joined in with the Taiwanese fans getting behind Lu. His wife, Lisa, is originally from Taoyuan, although she has lived in Melbourne for 21 years.
One of the most dedicated fans present was Chiang Po-chieh of Keelung, also on a working holiday. The following day, during Chang Kai-chen’s match against Bojana Jovanovski, she described how she had been cheering on Lu, Chang and even Chan Yung-jan in qualifying, before the tournament proper had even started.
She didn’t seem too disappointed as Chang slid to defeat — possibly as she was looking forward to watching Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny in action later — but offered her compatriot some advice.
“She [Chang] needs to be more patient,” she said, a valid observation as another backhand from the 20-year-old from Taoyuan crashed into the net during her straight-sets loss.
Jason Zhang, an accountant from Taichung, was one of the few fans who had traveled from Taiwan specifically to see the tennis.
“It’s my first Australian Open, but I hope I can come back every year,” Zhang said. “It’s been my dream to come here and people have been very hospitable. I’ve just seen Venus [Williams] and [Justine] Henin in person. I’ve only ever seen them on TV.”
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