An interview with Rendy Lu Yen-Hsun at Sunrise Tennis Club

Rendy Lu who has been dubbed the "giant killer" lately, went down to Stefan Koubek 6-7, 6-1, 3-6 in the first round at the BMW Tennis Championship.

How can Rendy who is currently ranked at 61 can lost to Koubek who is at 229?!

But let's just leave the disappointment aside and hope that Rendy will play better in Miami next week.

Now here's a good news though. The media official at BMW Tennis Championship managed to interview Rendy and sent the following transcript together with some photos to Esther this morning. Thank you Sunrise!

ON RAIN DELAY
"Of course it's not really easy going on the court, off the court two times. And also, there was no warm up, so it's really not easy to focus on the match. I mean, he's (Koubek) doing well. I didn't play bad after going out from the rain, but he played better. I didn't complain though. It's just a match. "

ON LETTING FIRST SET TIEBREAK GET AWAY
"I just made really not clever shots after the 6-2 [tiebreak] set point. He started to play better. Now, I'm really upset, but I know what happened today to me, and now I'll start to be positive and look to next week."

ON OUTCOME TODAY
"I have no negative thinking. This tournament is different. All the challengers, everybody practicing for their confidence. Of course, if you win this tournament, it's great. For me, I need to clear my mind mentally from last week and here. I like the way I'm playing but I need to refresh a little bit and practice to get ready for next week. I'm upset for today--I lost. Nobody's happy if he loses, but I'm still looking forward to next week."

ON BEATING LLEYTON HEWITT IN DELRAY
"It's good for me. It also gives me a lot of confidence. He's a good player, he's a number one before. I proved to myself I can beat the top players. Even though he's not number one [now], he's still a dangerous player. It showed me how I can compete with the top guys and I have an opportunity to beat them. So it really helped me a lot."


(Transcript by sunrisetennis.com; Images by C.R. Sigelakis)

Rendy Lu Yen-hsun knocks out birthday boy Lleyton Hewitt at Delray Beach

Esther, thank you for waking me up in the wee hours of the morning with your text message informing me about Rendy Lu's first round victory!

Fans were dying to see Rendy wins again after last month's victory against David Nalbandian at the Australian Open.

So when Rendy defeated former world no. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in three sets, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2, we're the happiest bunch on earth!

“I never thought I would win today,” said Rendy.

“I did just a little better in the wind than Hewitt. I felt no pressure today at all, because I knew I was playing one of the best players in the world.”

Well, Rendy you better start believing that you can win no matter who your opponents are!

Birthday boy Hewitt, who planned to have a birthday cake on court if he won the match, was probably tired after the semifinal match at Memphis last week.

Here's a bit of the match report provided by the friendly media people at yellowtennisball.com.

The first set was close as both Rendy and Hewitt focused on keeping the ball in play due to the windy conditions. Serving at 5-6, Hewitt double faulted at set point for Rendy. In the second set the Australian took an early lead by breaking Rendy at 1-1 and breaking again at 4-2. Hewitt seized the opportunity to serve for the set, which he took with a crosscourt forehand winner. An early break in the third gave Rendy a 3-0 lead, but after a long fifth game at 1-3, Hewitt broke back. A quick re-break by Rendy brought the score to 4-2. Rendy was able to hold his serve and after an unforced error, broke Hewitt who was playing on a wild card.

Rendy will play Stefan Koubek next. So stay tune.

In the meanwhile, here are more photos of Rendy at Delray Beach.

Rendy's victory made the headlines at ATP and Delray Beach tourney websites. Here are the screen caps. You can click to enlarge.


(Via yellowtennisball.com; Images by CameraSport, Cecil Wise)