It had been seven years since Hyung Taik Lee advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. But this year, the tennis icon finally repeated the feat, achieving a career-high singles ranking (No. 36 in the world) and holding his title of the most successful South Korean male tennis player in history.

The 31-year-old icon defeated Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia in the first round before recording back-to-back upsets of Guillermo Canas and Andy Murray in the second and third rounds, respectively. A semifinal round date with No. 1-ranked Roger Federer loomed on the horizon, but Nikolay Davydenko killed off the possibility by knocking out Lee in the fourth round.

“I’m really satisfied,” Lee told Reuters, through a translator. “It really gave me hope that I can do better and I can have better results.”