Began playing tennis at age nine with his school teacher in his home town of Hoingsung, a potato farming village town of about 10,000 in province of Kang Won Do...His mother, Choon-Ja Choi, and two older brothers (Kyung-Taik and Kyu-Taik) live in Seoul...A big NBA basketball fan...Has a 49-20 career record in Davis Cup (39-8 in singles) in 28 ties since 1995...Has most Davis Cup match wins in his country's history...Participated in 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney (doubles) and 2004 Athens Olympics....Considers backhand as best shot and hard courts as favorite surface...Captured silver medal at Asian Games in December 2006 (l. to Udomchoke)...Wife, Soo-an Lee (married Feb. 28, 2004); daughter, Song-Eun (born Apr. 10, 2006); son, Chang-Hyun (born Aug. 18, 2007)... Coached by countryman and former ATP pro Yong-il Yoon (since March 2006).

(Aug. 2007)