Why Lu loves Lee-Hesh

Lu was one of them and on Monday he met up with his boyhood idol, only to demolish him in straight sets. The wheel had turned full circle, as Lu acknowledged. ‘‘It was this trio’s Asian connection that helped me shape my career’’, he told The Indian Express today.

There’s more similarity between Taiwan’s tennis hopefuls and those in India, though, than just Lee-Hesh. For one, as Lu explains, tennis is way down in the popularity stakes. ‘‘Back home, baseball is very, very big. Then come basketball and table tennis, then tennis.’’ Sounds familiar?

But he battled the system and, armed with an attacking game — ‘‘I like to attack, Chang was defensive’’, he says, explaining his love for hard courts — gradually moved up the ladder.

He eventually broke through to the senior level in 2000 as a 17-year-old. It was a tough, winless opening year, but he had a winning debut in the Davis Cup — against Pakistan — and in 2001 he turned pro.

That meant more graft, more slogging it out in Futures and Challengers in southeast Asia, the backwaters of professional tennis (‘‘It was cheaper’’, he says). But he never gave up. ‘‘I always had it in me to work hard. Success, I knew, would follow’’, he says in his halting English.

Today, with three titles from seven finals, Lu is the first Chinese Taipei player to break into the Top-100 on the strength of his 37-11 W/L record. The red-letter day was November 15, when he ranked as high as 82.

The battle doesn’t end here, however. He’s still fighting to haul tennis on to the mindspace of those who run sport in Taiwan. ‘‘In our country, no funds come from the government unless they can see the sport or the player as a medal prospect.’’

The problem that creates is a small talent pool — Davis Cup teammate Yeu-Tzuo Wang is ranked 189 — and, consequently, disinterested private sponsors. ‘‘Sponsors like to put their money where the focus is and that’s baseball.”

Today he’s ranked at 142 but Lu, having already become the first from his country to crack the Top 100, has his sights firmly fixed on breaking into the Top 50. A new coach in Dirk Hordorff, practicing with higher ranked players, in particular Rainer Schuettler, should help him on the way.