Lee Hyung-taik Cracks Top 50 at Last

Korean tennis player Lee Hyung-taik (30•Samsung Securities) finally broke the “50th Ranking Curse.”

Lee jumped 9 spots from last week’s 57th place, to be placed 48th on the Association of Tennis Players (ATP) Tour World Rankings announced on October 9.

He is the first Korean male tennis player to be placed within 50th place, and the third for both male and female athletes, after Cho Yoon-jung (45th) and Lee Deok-hee (47th). For Asian rankings, he is second to the highest after Thailand`s tennis player Paradorn Srichaphan.

After experiencing a slump in 2004 in which he fell to 123rd place, Lee is at his peak again this season, finally achieving his goal of ranking within 50th place, a goal he set in 2001 when he first arrived on the tour scene. Lee has now departed for Moscow on October 9 in search of the ATP Kremlin Cup. If he survives the quarterfinals, he will vie with Cho Yoon-jung for the Korean with the highest ranking record.

kjs0123@donga.com