Men
Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR)
The South Korean started playing at the age of nine with his school teacher and turned professional in 1995. Much of his early years were spent on the Challenger circuit and the year he turned professional he advanced to his first Challenger semi-final in Seoul. He also won his first ATP match and Made his Davis Cup debut against Indonesia where he won both of his ties. His first Challenger title came in 1999 in Yokohama where beat Paradorn Srichaphan in the final. He also added four Futures titles to rise up the rankings. In 2000 he qualified for the US Open for his Grand Slam debut and reached the fourth round, losing to Pete Sampras. A year later he became the first Korea to reach an ATP final in Houston, losing to Andy Roddick in the final. In 2003, Lee started the season well winning his opening tournament on the hard courts in Sydney, losing to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final. In 2004 he added his fourth career Seoul Challenger title and reached the third round at Roland Garros and the US Open. He also reached the semi-final at the Stella Artois Championships at Queens, with wins over Ginepri, Schalker and Beck before losing to Frenchman Sebastian Grosjean. In 2005 he reached the third round at the Masters Series in Miami where he lost to Gael Monfils and advanced to the third round at Roland Garros for the second consecutive year, beaten by David Ferrer. In 2007 he finished as Asia's number one player for second consecutive year, highlighted by a career best 25 match wins and achieving his greatest success on North American hard courts.
End of 2007 Statistics: Ranking 51 I Career Titles 1 I Prize Money $2,063,958
Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)
The Croatian enjoyed a successful start to his tennis career as a junior where he reached the final of the boys singles at Wimbledon in 1996. He is known for his strong service which is both powerful and consistent, winning Ljubicic many aces during matches. He turned professional in 1998 and is credited with being in the only doubles team to defeat to defeat the Bryan Brothers in Davis Cup history. In October 2001, he won his first ATP title in Lyon after defeating El Aynaoui in the final. At the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 he teamed up with fellow countryman Mario Ancic to win the Bronze Mdeal in the doubles event. It was in 2005 when Ljubicic made his breakthrough at the top when he won a further two ATP titles in Metz and Vienna. He was also runner-up at another six ATP events, losing to Roger Federer in three of them and Rafa Nadal in another one. Most notably he reached the semi-finals of two Masters Series events. In 2006, he opened the season well winning his fourth ATP title on the hard courts in Chennai before completing a career best performance at the Australian Open, reaching the quarter final where he lost to eventual finalist Marcos Baghdatis. After the Australian Open he played at the Zagreb Indoor Open, on carpet which is a surface typically favoured by the Croatian. At Roland Garros he reached the semi-finals for the first time in his career, losing to eventual winner Rafa Nadal. In 2007 he finished in the top 20 for the third consecutive season, highlighted by winning two ATP titles and two runner-up finishes.
End of 2007 Statistics: Ranking 18 I Career Titles 8 I Prize Money $6,661,850
Michael Llodra (FRA)
The left-hander was born in Paris, where his father played football for Paris Saint-Germain. He considers grass to be his favourite surface and has continued to play on the singles and doubles tour. His career highlights to date since turning professional in 1999 include winning the Australian Open doubles title twice, partnered with countryman Fabrice Santoro and more recently defeating the Bryan brothers in the final at Wimbledon, the defending champions and current world number ones, to win his third doubles Grand Slam title, this time with Arnaud Clement. In 2007 the Frenchman finished in the top 100 singles for the third time in the last four years. On the doubles tour he won three titles, including the win at the All England Club. His best singles result was reaching the quarter finals in Zagreb in February where he lost to Alexander Peya. In 2000 Llodra qualified for four ATP events to rise up the rankings and qualified for the Australian Open and Wimbledon. In 2001 he advanced to his first ATP quarter final in Newport and won Challenger singles titles at Heilbronn and Hamburg. It was in 2004 where he reached his first ATP final Adelaide, losing to Dominik Hrbaty in the final. During the season he posted his best Grand Slam performance to date by reaching the fourth round at Roland Garros before losing to Tim Henman. In his next tournament he continued this form by winning his first singles title on the grass courts in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. He also went on to reach the fourth round at the US Open, falling to Joachim Johansson.
End of 2007 Statistics: Ranking 93 I Career Titles 1 I Prize Money $3,371,763
Feliciano Lopez (ESP)
Unlike many of his countryman, Feliciano's favourite surface is the hard courts and he considers his serve as his best shot. He started playing tennis at the age of five with his father and turned professional in 1997. He is currently coached by former ATP pros Galo Blanco and Albert Costa. In 2007 the Spaniard returned to the year end top 40 ranking for the fourth time in five years with a strong performance in the second half of the season. Early in the year, he reached the quarter final in Las Vegas, losing to eventual champion Lleyton Hewitt and the fourth round at the ATP Masters Series in Miami, where he again lost to the eventual winner Novak Djokovic. He was also responsible for ended Tim Henman's love affair at the All England Club when he defeated the Brit in five sets in the second round at Wimbledon before losing to Tsonga. At the US Open he posted his best result by reaching the fourth round, losing to Roger Federer in four sets. He also reached consecutive quarter final events in Tokyo, Vienna and the Masters Series in Madrid. In 2004 he made his first ATP final in Dubai where he lost to Federer and at Roland Garros, turned in his career best fourth round showing, losing to Gustavo Kuerten. After a third round exit at Wimbledon that year to Ivo Karlovic he went on to claim his first ATP title in Vienna where he defeated Canans in five sets. In 2005 came his best performance at a Grand Slam to date when he reached the quarter final stages at Wimbledon after posting wins over Marat Safin and Mario Ancic before falling to Lleyton Hewitt. He also went on to reach the quarter final stages or better in seven other ATP events to compile an excellent season.
End of 2007 Statistics: Ranking 35 I Career Titles 1 I Prize Money $3,216,463
Peter Luczak (AUS)
The Australian was born in Warsaw, Poland and began playing tennis at the age of six. The right-hander turned professional in 2000 after playing NCAA college tennis in the United States at Fresno State University, where he holds the record for most career singles wins. To date he has had a relatively average ATP tour career, with limited Grand Slam success. It was only in 2007 when the Aussie finished in the top 100 for the first time in his career, highlighted by a successful Challenger campaign. He compiled a 45-14 record with a circuit best four titles in six finals, all on his favourite surface clay. On the ATP circuit he played sparingly, posting a 2-8 record. In April he won the Fes Challenger title in Morocco and three weeks later reached the final in Marrakech, losing to El Aynaoui in the final. At Roland Garros and the US Open he made early first round exits, losing to Jonas Bjorkman and Luis Horna respectively. In Davis Cup play he represented Australia in the tie against Serbia and lost the opening match to Novak Djokovic, as well as the dead rubber against Pashanski. When Luczak turned professional in 1999 he concentrated on playing on the Futures title to improve his ranking and it was only in 2002 when he spent the entire season at Challenger level, winning his first title on the hard courts in Granby, Canada. In 2003 he made his Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open and advanced to the third round, his best perfomance to date a Grand Slam. In 2005, he reached his first ATP semi-final in Costa do Sauipe with his best win over Fernando Gonzalez followed by Sa and Massa. He also made his Davis Cup debut against Argentina, losing the dead rubber to Coria.
End of 2007 Statistics: Ranking 79 I Career Titles 0 I Prize Money $630,455
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