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Taiwan's Lu wins Samsung Securities Cup tennis title
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Taipei, Oct. 23 (CNA) Taiwanese tennis player Lu Yen-hsu defended his title at the Samsung Securities Cup in South Korea Sunday, defeating compatriot Jimmy Wang 7-5, 6-3 in the final.
Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei also beat Japan's Yurika Sema earlier in the day to claim the women's singles title.
Lu and Wang will take home prize money of US$14,400 and US$8,480, respectively, while Hsieh gets just US$2,940.
Lu told CNA that Taiwanese players' dominance in the US$100,000 tournament, part of the ATP Challenger Tour, has provided a great boost to the country's tennis scene.
Eyeing next year's Davis Cup tournament in South Korea, Lu said it will be a great challenge for Taiwan as it will be played in a group format in which four singles and one doubles match will require Taiwan to muster its best players if it wants to beat host South Korea, he said.
Sunday's Lu-Wang final opened with Wang taking first serve. Wang's steady serve was met with hasty attacks by Lu, which resulted in many unforced errors by Lu.
Lu had trouble holding serve early in the match, fighting off two break points in his first service game and another two in the next one before converting Wang's break point to win the first set 7-5.
In the second set, Lu secured three break points in his compatriot's first service game and another point in the next one to lead the set at 4-0.
Wang then won the next two games and converted one break point against Lu at 5-3 before allowing Lu to convert one break point to take the set and end the match at 6-3.
Lu said Wang played smart in the early part of the match, adding that he made too many unforced errors because he was too eager to attack. The world's No.77 said that despite fighting hard in his service games, he was able to finally hold steady and won at key points of the proceedings.
Lu also praised Wang's performance, saying that he played well overall throughout the week-long competition. (By Chiang Yuan-chen and Ann Chen) ENDITEM/J
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