Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun was swept aside in straight sets by world No. 2 Roger Federer in a first round men’s singles match at Wimbledon Monday, but he emerged from the encounter with more confidence and a new coach.
Lu, who had been struggling to recover from an energy-sapping virus since the middle of last month, lost to the five-time Wimbledon champion 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 in 105 minutes, but he told the Central News Agency afterwards that holding a 3-2 lead in the first set despite a heavy bout of nerves left him more confident than ever.
“It had a real motivating effect, because it made me understand that even against a top player like Federer, I could still be competitive and fight to the end,” Lu said. “To have a good showing against a heavyweight is not an impossibility.”
Lu struggled for much of his career against top-ranked players before defeating Andy Murray in the Olympics in Beijing last year and Argentine David Nalbandian in the second round of this year’s Australian Open.
After Monday’s match, even Federer came away impressed.
“He’s a wonderful player. He has got a nice forehand, a nice backhand, very sound game all around,” Federer said. “I knew the danger today. He’s beaten good players in the past.”
Although Lu said he learned a lot during the match and described playing him on perhaps the biggest stage in men’s tennis — center court at Wimbledon — as a “special experience,” it was not his dream draw.
“When the draw first came out, I thought I was really unlucky because I really felt comfortable on the grass surface,” he said. “My coach told me beforehand that as long as I didn’t draw Federer, I had a chance against any of the other 126 players entered.”
The loss to Federer meant Lu was eliminated from Wimbledon for the fourth time in six tries, with his best showings second round finishes in 2004 and 2005.
His best performance in a grand slam singles event came at this year’s Australian Open, when he reached the third round.
Lu said his stamina was not 100 percent against Federer, as he only began training in earnest 10 days ago after a blood test in England found everything was normal, and that he still needs time to regain his prior level of conditioning, but now he’ll have extra incentive.
Former Australian doubles great Mark Woodforde, who won 12 grand slam doubles titles during his career, worked with Lu during the week prior to Wimbledon and will travel with the 25-year-old Taiwanese over the next month to help him during the US hard court season.
Woodforde, who along with Lu’s regular coach Dirk Hordorff helped Lu devise the attacking strategy that paid some dividends against Federer, also used his privileges as a Wimbledon member to get Lu into the closely guarded center court before the tournament began and get a feel for the intimidating arena.
Having a former player with Woodforde’s experience and knowledge of the game at his side can only help Lu in the immediate future.
While Lu made a respectable showing in the men’s draw, compatriot Chan Yung-jan showed she is still far from fully recovered following a two-month layoff because of a toe fracture.
After falling to 12th seed Marion Bartoli of France 6-0, 6-0 in the first round of the women’s singles, Chan said that while her toe had recovered physically, she had yet to overcome the psychological barrier of worrying about reinjuring it and moved too cautiously.
Her conditioning was also a long way from peak form after the layoff, making it difficult to work through long points, she said.
Her focus will now turn to doubles, where she will partner with Hungary’s Agnes Szavay.
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