Lee Duk-hee

Last updated
Lee Duk-hee
Full nameLee Duk-hee (이덕희)
Country (sports)Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea
Born (1953-07-13) 13 July 1953 (age 70)
North Jeolla Province
Retired1983
PlaysRight-handed
Singles
Career record62–82
Career titles1 WTA
Highest rankingNo. 40 (20 December 1982)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open 2R (1973)
French Open 2R (1980, 1982, 1983)
Wimbledon 2R (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
US Open 4R (1981)
Doubles
Career record27–60
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open 2R (1980)
French Open 3R (1983)
Wimbledon 2R (1982)
US Open 2R (1983)

Lee Duk-hee (born 13 July 1953) is a former professional tennis player from South Korea.

Contents

Biography

Lee started in 1973 when she made the second round of the Australian Open, then featured as a doubles player at both the 1973 French Open and Wimbledon Championships. For the rest of the 1970s, she played only representative tennis for South Korea. She was a foundation player in South Korea's Fed Cup team, first featuring in its tournament debut in 1973, with regular appearances from 1976. At the 1974 Asian Games, she partnered with Lee Soon-oh to win a silver medal in the women's doubles. She won two gold medals at the 1978 Asian Games in both the women's singles and doubles.

Relocating to the United States, Lee became the first South Korean of either gender to play professional tennis in 1980. She featured in the singles draw of all four grand slam tournaments in 1980, which was also a first for a Korean. At the 1981 US Open, she lost in the fourth round to Hana Mandlikova after defeating Susan Leo, Susan Mascarin and ninth-seed Virginia Ruzici. [1] In 1982, she defeated Yvonne Vermaak to win the Fort Myers WTA tournament and had a win over Billie Jean King en route to the quarterfinals of the German Open. [2] She reached her career best ranking of 30 in the world in 1983, which was her final year on the professional tour. This remained the highest rank attained by a Korean female player for 20 years until surpassed by Cho Yoon-jeong. [3]

WTA Tour finals

Singles (1-0)

Result   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
WinJanuary, 1982 Fort Myers, Florida, U.S.$50,000Hard Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Yvonne Vermaak 6–0, 6–3

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilana Kloss</span> South African tennis player, coach, and commissioner

Ilana Sheryl Kloss is a former professional tennis player, tennis coach, and commissioner of World TeamTennis from 2001–21. She was the World's No. 1 ranked doubles player in 1976, and World No. 19 in singles in 1979. She won the Wimbledon juniors singles title in 1972, the US Open juniors singles title in 1974, and the US Open Doubles and French Open Mixed Doubles titles in 1976. She won three gold medals at the 1973 Maccabiah Games in Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková</span> Czech tennis player

Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková is a Czech retired professional tennis player.

Park Sung-hee is a former tennis player from South Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romana Tedjakusuma</span> Indonesian tennis player

Romana Tedjakusuma is a former professional tennis player from Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shuko Aoyama</span> Japanese tennis player

Shuko Aoyama is a Japanese professional tennis player who specializes in doubles.

Bahia Mouhtassine is a former Moroccan professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is No.139, achieved on 24 June 2002. She is the highest ever ranked player from Morocco.

Nana Smith is an American-born tennis player who played for Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Despina Papamichail</span> Greek tennis player

Despina Papamichail is a Greek professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 147, reached on 20 June 2022. Her highest doubles ranking is No. 109, achieved on 18 September 2023. Papamichail has won two doubles titles on the WTA Challenger Tour as well as 15 singles and 36 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jang Su-jeong</span> South Korean tennis player

Jang Su-jeong is a South Korean professional tennis player.

Lee Ye-ra is a South Korean former tennis player. Her highest singles ranking is world No. 178, achieved in September 2008. Her career-high doubles ranking is world No. 215, reached in February 2008. In her career, she won ten singles and eight doubles titles on tournaments of the ITF Circuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Han Na-lae</span> South Korean tennis player

Han Na-lae is a South Korean tennis player. Han has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 149, achieved June 2019 and a doubles ranking of No. 95 on 7 November 2022. Han has won one doubles title on the WTA Tour and two doubles titles on the Challenger Tour, along with 13 singles titles and 28 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. A left-hander, she hits both forehand and backhand with two hands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nao Hibino</span> Japanese tennis player

Nao Hibino is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as No. 56 in singles and No. 43 in doubles by the WTA. Hibino has won three singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour. Along with that, she has won eight singles and ten doubles tournaments on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour.

Choi Ji-hee is a professional South Korean tennis player.

Kim Eun-ha is a former professional tennis player from South Korea. A right-handed player, Kim had a serve-and-volley game and was best on hardcourts.

Lee Jeong-soon is a South Korean former professional tennis player.

Kim Mi-ok is a South Korean former professional tennis player.

Priska Madelyn Nugroho is an Indonesian tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of 265 in singles and 197 in doubles, and is currently the highest-ranked Indonesian tennis player in singles on either WTA and ATP Tours. She has won five titles in singles and eleven in doubles on the ITF Women's Circuit.

Vicki Berner was a Canadian professional tennis player. During her career, Berner won the doubles event at the Canadian Open five times. Between 1964 and 1973, Berner competed in Grand Slam events. Her highest finishes were the quarterfinals of the 1967 Wimbledon Championships in women's doubles and the semifinals at the 1964 U.S. National Championships in mixed doubles. At the Fed Cup in the 1960s, Berner reached the quarterfinals at the 1964 Federation Cup in singles and the 1967 Federation Cup in doubles. In 1995, Berner was named into the Tennis Canada Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Bandecchi</span> Swiss tennis player

Susan Bandecchi is a Swiss tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 164 on 7 March 2022, and her best doubles ranking of world No. 141 on 11 July 2022.

Yang Jeong-soon is a Korean former professional tennis player.

References

  1. "ITF Tennis - Pro Circuit - US Open - 01 September - 13 September 1981". ITF . Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  2. "King loses temper, match in Berlin". Reno Gazette-Journal . 19 May 1982. p. 21. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  3. "Lee Highest Ranked Korean Tennis Player Ever". The Korea Times . 24 July 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2017.