Began playing tennis at age five...Often was in trouble as a kid for hitting balls inside the house...Parents Andrew and Ann are both in real estate...They immigrated from Seoul in the 1960s...His sister Jennifer is an accountant...His father served as the California State Athletic Commissioner...Father played tennis recreationally, and would often shag balls while father played...Played one season at UCLA from 1996-97 and was an All-American in singles and doubles...Won 1996 USTA Boys' 18s (d. B. Bryan), but lost in doubles final (w/Russell, l. to Bryan-Bryan)...Finalist in 1995 USTA Boys' 18s Clay Courts and Easter Bowl...Won 1994 USTA Boys Indoors (d. Getz) in five sets after losing first two sets...Favorite surface is hard...Considers his forehand and backhand down the line as best shots.
1996 – Made Grand Slam debut as a wild card into US Open (l. to Wheaton in 1st RD)...
1997 – Made ATP doubles debut in Washington (w/ Goldstein)...
1998 – Compiled a 9-8 record in Futures and 3-4 in Challengers...
1999 – Made first appearance as a qualifier in Long Island (l. to D. Vacek)...Wild card entry at US Open (l. to Meligeni in 1st RD)...Reached first career Challenger final in Lexington (l. to Levy)...In doubles, won Boca Raton Challenger (w/Romero) and Granby (w/Szymanski)...
2000 – Earned first ATP match win, defeating Caldwell in Washington D.C...Was 2-5 in ATP events...Also reached 2nd RD in Hong Kong...Played third career US Open as a wild card...Reached three Challenger finals, in Tallahassee (l. to Salzenstein), Aptos (l. to B. Bryan) and Burbank (l. to Roddick)...Compiled a 30-21 record in Challengers...Recorded first ATP doubles match win at US Open (w/ Blake)...
2001 – Played three ATP events...Reached 2nd RD in Indianapolis (d. Saulnier, l. to Zabaleta)...Won first career Challenger title in Burbank (d. Spadea)...Was 20-20 in Challengers...In doubles, went 6-5 in ATP events...Reached first ATP final in Houston (w/Thomas)...
2002 – Played three ATP events and reached 2nd RD in Washington D.C. (d. Spracklin, l. to Srichaphan) and Long Island (d. Popp, l. to Nieminen)...Reached final at Joplin Challenger (l. to Brasington)...In doubles, reached final at Tarzana Challenger (w/Coupe)...
2003 – Reached Joplin Challenger final (l. to B. Bryan)...Reached SF at San Antonio Challenger...Compiled a 23-24 record in Challengers...
2004 – Finished in Top 100 for first time...Reached first ATP QF in Beijing in September, defeating Burgsmuller and No. 11 Ferrero before falling to eventual champion Safin...Claimed Andorra title in June (d. Muller) and following month won at Aptos (d. Dancevic)...In October, reached final at Tiburon (l. to Hippensteel) and followed with title at Burbank (d. Kendrick)...
2005 – Won a career-high 19 matches and recording wins at Grand Slam and ATP Masters Series levels for first time...Made Australian Open debut and reached 3rd RD...Defeated Lee and Garcia Lopez before losing to former champion T. Johansson in five sets...Following week, reached second career ATP QF in Delray Beach (l. to Spadea)...Made ATP Masters Series debut in Indian Wells, reaching 2nd RD there as well as in Miami...Jumped to career-high No. 63 in South African Airways ATP Rankings on Mar. 21...Reached 2nd RD at Wimbledon in debut (l. to Dent)...Advanced to 3rd RD in Indianapolis (l. to Kiefer) and qualified for AMS Montreal (l. to Robredo)...In October, reached 3rd RD in Tokyo and finished season with 2nd RD in St. Petersburg...Earned a career-high $290,525...
2006 – Finished out of year-end Top 100 for first time in three years...Compiled a 17-14 Challenger record and won one title...Opened the season with 2nd RD at Australian Open, winning against Levy in 1st RD before falling to No. 5 Davydenko in four sets...Won title at Dallas Challenger (d. Kendrick)...Reached 2nd RD at ATP Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami...Reached Challenger QF in Tallahassee and Bogota...Reached Roland Garros 2nd RD for first time with win over Silva (l. to Nadal)...Reached final at Cordoba Challenger (l. to Greul)...Reached 2nd RD at Washington, D.C., defeating Oudsema and losing in three sets to Blake and followed at ATP Masters Series Toronto with wins over Ginepri before falling to Verdasco...In doubles, claimed title at Cordoba Challenger (w/Gimelstob) and reached SF in Tokyo (w/Lee).
2006 IN REVIEW
This American finished out of year-end Top 100 for first time in three years...Compiled a 17-14 record and won one Challenger title...Opened the season with 2nd RD at Australian Open, winning against Levy in 1st RD before falling to No. 5 Davydenko in four sets...Won title at Dallas Challenger (d. Kendrick)...Reached 2nd RD at ATP Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami...Reached Challenger QF in Tallahassee and Bogota...Reached Roland Garros 2nd RD for first time with win over Silva (l. to Nadal)...Reached final at Cordoba Challenger (l. to Greul)...Reached 2nd RD at Washington, D.C., defeating Oudsema and losing in three sets to Blake and followed at ATP Masters Series Toronto with wins over Ginepri before falling to Verdasco...Reached 2nd RD at Beijing (l. to Ljubicic) before losing in 1st RD at three straight events...In doubles, claimed title at Cordoba Challenger (w/Gimelstob) and reached SF in Tokyo (w/Lee).