Thursday, February 24, 2011

Winless tennis player to seek first win in Davis Cup

Taipei, Feb. 24 (CNA) Taiwan's top-ranked men's tennis player, Lu Yen-hsun, will be looking for his first victory of the year in the upcoming 2011 Davis Cup tennis tournament in Shanghai to break out of an early season slump.

Lu, who finished 2010 with a memorable quarterfinal run at Wimbledon, has lost all five matches in the ATP Tour this year, including an opening round exit in the Australian Open, and saw his world ranking drop from a career high of No. 33 in mid-January to No. 42 last week.

"I have been waiting for my first win of the year like you have. I tried to be at ease with the fact (of not winning) but I know I should be more aggressive on court, " said Lu.

The 27-year-old said several factors have contributed to his lackluster performance, including draws, the level of competition and opponents, but said fatigue is not one of them.

"I have experienced similar early-season slumps like this in the past. The most important thing for me is to stay focused and try to find a way to win, " he said.

Lu will have an opportunity to grab his first victory of the year in Shanghai, where he will team up with Chen Ti, Yi Chu-huan and Yang Tsung-hua against China in the Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1 first round competition March 4-6.

However, Lu has been suffering from a severe bout of flu that made him too sick to compete in the Dubai Tennis Championship in the United Arab Emirates earlier this week.

If Taiwan beats China, it will advance to the second round to face top seed Australia, which receives a first-round bye. A win over Australia will lift Taiwan to the world group playoffs.

"It doesn't matter if it's a rout or a close win. We need this win. We are determined to beat China to advance to the next round, " Lu said, adding that he hopes to recover before the Shanghai event.

Taiwan has never advanced to the World Group, the tournament's top tier in which 16 countries compete. Taiwan's best Davis Cup performances were in 2005, 2006 and 2009, when it reached the second round in Group 1 of the Asia/Oceania Zone. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J