Lu Yen-hsun trudged across a spectator-free outer court, his back in discomfort and his tennis whites drenched in sweat.
After a breakthrough year on the ATP World Tour in which he became the first Taiwanese man to make the Wimbledon quarterfinals, the 27-year-old wanted to finish off by representing his island country at the Asian Games.
Lu beat Cecil Mamiit in straight sets 6-2, 7-6 (3) on Sunday, withstanding an attempted comeback by the Philippine veteran in the second set to help Taiwan advance to the men's team semifinals and guarantee it a bronze medal.
''For this team, I just tried to get this win. I hope I can get some good rest. I hope my form doesn't deteriorate ... I will pray tonight,'' said Lu, visibly tired as he spoke after the match. ''I will try to hang in there, but I really didn't feel great today.''
Lu wrapped up his ATP calendar with a first-round loss in Basel to Frenchman Richard Gasquet about two weeks ago.
He is seeded No. 1 in the singles draw, but didn't even want to discuss the individual competition yet. ''Let's talk about the team competition first,'' he said.
Lu's appearance in Guangzhou caps a whirlwind year. He spent the first half hovering in and out of the world's top 100 and alternating between top-tier events and challenger tournaments.
Then came Wimbledon in June, when he became the Cinderella story at the All England Club by upsetting three-time finalist Andy Roddick in five sets to reach the quarterfinals.
He pointed to the sky after that victory, dedicating the win to his late father, a chicken farmer who died in 2000.
A Round of 16 appearance at the Toronto Masters during the summer hard court season and a Challenger title in Seoul in October then helped push his ranking to a career-high No. 33 on Nov. 1. He has slipped back to No. 37 since then and is the second-highest ranked player from Asia, one spot behind Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev. Golubev is skipping the Asian Games.
''Of course Wimbledon was a big turning point,'' he told The Associated Press in an interview, adding that he was most pleased with his consistency this year after a 2009 that was hampered by illness.
''I adjusted myself at the beginning of the year. After sorting out my fitness and my on-court skills, I became more mature and wasn't worried or afraid when I faced top players,'' Lu said.
Encouraged by a late blossoming, retirement isn't in the cards - Lu said his next goal is to represent Taiwan at the 2012 London Olympics, where the tennis event will be played at Wimbledon, the site of his brilliant run in June.
Asked about the state of men's Asian tennis, the Taiwanese was optimistic. Discounting Kazakhstan's Golubev and Mikhail Kukushkin and Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin, Lu is eastern Asia's only representative in the top 100. While mainland China - which split with Taiwan amid civil war in 1949 - has shined in the women's game, it hasn't produced a men's player of Lu's caliber. Before Lu, the most celebrated Asian tennis star was now-retired Thai player Paradorn Srichaphan, who was ranked as high as No. 9 in 2003.
''The level of Asian players is slowly improving,'' Lu said, adding that he is hopeful that mainland Chinese players can take their games to the next level. ''They have hired many foreign coaches to improve themselves. They have considerable ability. They pose a considerable threat. We hope they can post better results in the next year or two.''
