Veteran Taiwanese tennis player Lu Yen-hsun (盧彥勳) on Sunday announced his retirement after losing to world No. 5 Alexander Zverev of Germany in the first round of the men’s singles at the Tokyo Olympic Games. It took 59 minutes for 24-year-old Zverev to defeat 37-year-old Lu 6-1, 6-3.
Lu, a five-time Olympian with a 20-year career as a professional, had previously announced that he would retire from the sport after the Tokyo Olympics. He was one of the flag bearers for Taiwan at the Olympics opening ceremony.
After playing his last match yesterday morning, Lu told reporters that he felt proud, even though the end of his career was not exactly perfect.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
“I had the courage to give my everything on the court,” Lu said.
“Although I could not stand on the podium for the Olympics trophy ceremony, I feel like I have already stood on my own podium and I feel nothing but pride for myself,” he said.
Lu, first competed as an Olympian in Athens in 2004, with his best finish a round-of-16 showing in Beijing in 2008 after knocking out Andy Murray in the first round.
Lu turned pro in 2001, and is best known for his performance at Wimbledon in 2010 when he became the first Taiwanese to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam championship and the first man from Asia to reach the quarter-finals of a major in 15 years.
He has a career record of 162-230 in singles events and his highest world ranking was No. 33.
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) thanked Lu.
“You are the pride of Taiwan. Thank you for playing your last career match representing Taiwan at the Tokyo Olympics,” Lai wrote on Facebook.
Also yesterday, Taiwanese tennis duo Hsieh Yu-chieh (謝語倢) and Hsu Chieh-yu (許絜瑜) were eliminated after losing to two-time French Opens champions Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 2-6, 1-6, in the first round of the women’s doubles.
Hsieh is the younger sister of this year’s Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇). It was the pair’s first Olympics appearance and they only learned that they would be competing one week before the Tokyo Games began.
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
Taiwan has signed six arms procurement offers from the US totaling more than NT$208 billion (US$6.59 billion) covering long-range precision strike systems, missile stockpile replenishment and joint production of large-caliber ammunition, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The government’s proposed NT$1.25 trillion special defense budget has been stalled in the Legislative Yuan as opposition lawmakers question the amount and procurement items, while the Presidential Office and defense ministry say that the full amount is necessary to safeguard Taiwan. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) on Monday briefed the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on the defense budget for
RSS