Abkhazia Institute for Social and Economic Research

Of the nearly four billion people in Asia, just one remains alive in the men’s singles draw at Flushing Meadows. He is South Korea’s Hyung-Taik Lee, 31, an English literature major who speaks very little English. A man who made it to the fourth round in his US Open debut, in 2000, where he met Pete Sampras and pushed the then four-time champion to a tiebreaker in the first set before losing in three.

This year, Lee has a chance to improve upon that performance in his eighth US Open.

On Saturday, Lee takes on Andy Murray in the third round. Murray, 20, entered New York having played three matches (winning one) since May when he injured his wrist. He is the No. 19 seed.

Meanwhile, in August, Lee reached his highest ranking (36) since turning pro in 1995 at age 19. Since then, it has slipped to 43 because Lee skipped a tournament to fly back to Seoul where his wife, Soo-an, gave birth to their second child, a son named Chang-Hyun, on Aug. 19.

Lee's route to the third round included upsetting No. 14 Guillermo Canas of Argentina in straight sets in the second round on Thursday and enduring a five-set, first-round match on Tuesday against 36th-ranked Slovak Dominik Hrbaty – a match Lee almost conceded when his back seized up.

“I didn’t want to hear people say that I just gave up a losing game,” he said afterwards.

On Friday, Lee was back on the court in a second-round doubles match with his American partner Travis Parrott, despite the language barrier. Lee and Parrot communicated via hand signals between service points before losing to Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett in three sets, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-2.

When Lee steps onto the Grandstand on Saturday, it will be Sunday morning back home in Seoul, and his wife, a former manager of a traditional Korean dance company, will be busy tending to their young daughter and 14-day-old son. Lee’s parents and two brothers may call each other to reminisce about being back home on their potato farm when a 9-year-old Lee learned to play tennis at school.

"I'm over 30, but I still want to be a winner," Lee said.