Wimbledon 2010 and Yen Hsun Lu has made it to the fourth round without dropping a set - defeating Horacio Zeballos (7-5, 6-4, 6-3), Michal Przysiezny (6-4, 7-6(7), 6-3), and Florian Mayer (6-4, 6-4, 2-1) with Mayer withdrawing in the third set.The unseeded Lu, or 'Rendy' as he is known on the ATP World Tour, now has a huge challenge, taking on world No.5, defending runner-up and fifth seed Andy Roddick in the fourth round.In one of the biggest upsets on "Manic Monday", Lu saves a break point at 5-4 in the fifth and with the pressure on, the 27-year-old goes on to produce a superb performance and hold off the typically spirited comeback of the fifth-seed American.In just seven games, Lu plays a superb passing shot on his first match point and wraps up the match and the most memorable and historic win of his career.The man from Chinese Taipei has just defeated a Grand Slam Champion, a former No.1 and last year's Wimbledon finalist 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 6-7(5) in 4 hours and 36 mins.Lu, who had never before progressed beyond the third round of a Grand Slam, had a 6-18 Grand Slam singles record prior to the tournament, and who had never made it past the second round at Wimbledon in six appearances, had just taken down Roddick whose Wimbledon record boasts three final, one semi-final and one quarter-final appearance.Not only had Lu had a personal breakthrough, reaching his first quarter-final at a Grand Slam, but he was the first Asian male player to do so in 15 years and had progressed further in a Grand Slam singles than any Taiwanese player before him. Post match his performance was compared to that of Japan's Shuzo Matsuoka, who reached the last eight at Wimbledon in 1995 before losing to Pete Sampras and in one tournament, Lu catapulted his ranking from No.82 to No.42 in the world.The man from Taipei, the son of a chicken farmer, became the main man in Asian tennis. He featured on the cover of the Taiwanese version of GQ Magazine and just days after he made it to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, the Taipei City Government announced that it would build a massive tennis center that meets international standards by 2014. Despite losing to the Novak Djokovic, 3-6, 2-6, 2-6, in the next round, he had become the inspiration for his country, government and future tennis stars.Yang Tsung Hua, who in 2008 became Chinese Taipei's first-ever ITF top ranked junior boy said "before Rendy showed us, we did not know what it takes to be great. He not only gave me advice for on-court training and fitness, but he showed me by example how to run for every ball, and how to do your best at every practice. I can see by him, how working hard and being professional is the way to make my dream come true."
This match has also been marked as the turning point in Lu's career, with Lu now aiming to break into the top 30."My coach has brought me into the top 50. Our new target now is the top 30," Lu said.
According to his team and supporters, this is just the start of the rise of a player full of potential but hampered by injury and circumstance.Dirk Hordorff who reached out to the struggling and injury ridden player in 2003 spotted something special in him. He invited Lu to train with him and former Australian Open finalist Rainer Schuettler, who he also coached and managed and even supported Lu for free in the early years."When he was first invited for the winter preparation he came to Hamburg with his mother," Hordoff said."She was sitting in every practice session and wrote down which exercises we made, how we made them, and even made sketches of the practices. After some weeks I asked her what she was doing and Rendy explained to me that he asked her to make [the sketches], so that if he comes home he can do the same exercises. He takes his tennis and his practices that serious.""Like most Asian players he is a very hard worker. He gets his confidence by working hard. While he is always very fair to other people, he is very self critical."While his work ethic was commendable, Lu's body struggled to cope with the day to day pounding that tennis inflicted on him, amassing various injuries."His injuries cost him a lot of time," says Hordoff. "One reason was the lack of knowledge how to build up his body in his junior times. After understanding what to do and how to work, he is now fit and healthy and able to compete at the highest standard."Add to this the devastation of losing his father to a heart attack at 17 and the mounting pressure to support his family regardless of injury, and you can see why Lu is a late bloomer in the sport."After my father passed away I did not want to play tennis anymore." Lu said."My family was supporting me to go back to the tennis court. But I could not; I did not have the spirit. And then one day I remembered that my father had a dream that his son can maybe play Wimbledon some day and become Top 100. So, I used this as my energy because I wanted to make my father's dream come true.""Rendy is very loyal," Hordoff says. "And he never forgets those that help him. To see how he cares about his family is really very special."For the first time in Lu's career, his conditioning, body and mind seem to be one."His conditioning is good. He's fast, and his returns, groundstrokes and volleys are excellent, almost perfect. What he's missing is match experience. Lu now knows that he can beat the best players in the world, and that will make it easier for him from now on. I believe he still has great promise," Hordorff said.Likewise, Lu's Argentine trainer Bernardo Carberol agrees."He keeps improving. I don't know when he will reach his peak, but I hope he climbs very high," Carberol said.Seemingly the perfect match for Lu, Hordoff has taken a broken player pluck from obscurity beyond his expectations."Even if you're low-ranked or injured, he (Hordoff) has the same attitude toward every player, which is to aim for perfection," Lu said."I always tell myself I should do and try my best for everything," Lu said. "After a few years I don't want to look back on my tennis career and feel that if I worked harder maybe something would have been different. What I mean to say is that I don't want to feel regret that I did not do my best."With performances like Wimbledon, a new lease on his tennis life and growing confidence, Lu will be one to watch in Kuala Lumpur this September.
