He comes from Taiwan and is a former Wim- bledon quarter- finalist. But prior to shocking Andy Murray in straight sets in the first round of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, he might as well have been called Yen-Hsun Who?
Although Murray was only 21 when he was embarrassed by that 7-6, 6-4 defeat, he was already the world No 6 and his hopes of an Olympic medal had been buoyed by the first ATP tour victory of his career in Cincinnati, beating Novak Djokovic in the final.
By contrast, Lu was ranked around the 70 mark and his preparations involved travelling late from Los Angeles to China, minus his coach, Dirk Hordorff, who wasn't allowed to travel after a lengthy row with the Chinese Taipei Olympic Association.
"I was late arriving in Beijing, and I remember making a joke, saying it would probably be a better idea if I stayed at home," Lu, 28, said. "Especially as he [Murray] had just won the tournament before he came to Beijing. For sure he was one of the best players in the world at that moment and I was thinking it wouldn't be easy, especially with me arriving late when most people had been there acclimatising for a week or more. I had lost pretty much an entire week with the time difference and I thought I had no chance.
"I also had a problem with the Olympic Committee because they didn't want to send my coach. I was pissed about this and had a big fight with them. Even during the match I had nobody, my private coach wasn't allowed to help me. So I had to either practice with the girls, or look within myself and do everything myself, even the warm-up. I think it helped me that I got so angry about this and maybe that is why I played my best tennis.
"I didn't appreciate at the time the enormity of it all. But for me there was no pressure playing Andy and the conditions were in my favour. We were in Asia, so I was used to the air and the humidity. Also everyone around me was speaking Chinese, so it was kind of like home for me. I knew I couldn't lose really so I played my best tennis. It was close, but I fought from the beginning to the end and didn't really give him a chance."
Lu, who goes by the nickname "Rendy", went on to beat Argent-ina's Agustin Calleri before being dumped out of the competition by Austria's Jurgen Melzer.
This time around climatic conditions will be in Murray's favour, but Lu will be in attendance at SW19, assuming he can sort out another pre-tournament wrangle over his coach.
Although he tumbled out of Wimbledon last week to US youngster Ryan Harrison, it is a venue where Lu has a decent record, having beaten Andy Roddick in 2010 to become the first Asian man to reach the quarter-finals at a major for 15 years.
"I will be back at Wimbledon for the Olympics but even now we are still in discussions," Lu said. "They [the Olympic Committee] have been supporting me a little bit more this year, because I had such a good result two years ago on a grass court at Wimbledon. So maybe this year it will be better, but still they haven't made a decision yet. They still might send across a women's player coach as national coach, then I have nobody again."
It should hardly be a surprise that the presence of Hordorff is deemed crucial by Lu. With his father passing away when he was just 17, it was the German, who formerly coached his countryman Rainer Schuettler, who has largely guided the player during his time in the professional game.
Lu is looking forward to the quick return to Wimbledon.
"Andy Murray of course will be among the favourites to win it [the Olympics] this year, because he always does well when he plays here. It doesn't matter how I am playing, I always enjoy coming back to Wimbledon. But I am not just happy to play; every tournament I play in I want to win, and play my best tennis. Even if I am playing someone like Roger [Federer], who most people outside tennis might think I have no chance against, I have to prepare and make sure for the Olympics I bring my best tennis to surprise everybody again."
Lu and Murray meet up regularly on the ATP circuit, although unsurprisingly the 2008 defeat doesn't come up in conversation often.
"We just say 'hi' when we meet on the tour, we don't speak so much. But maybe that is more to do with my personality, I am more quiet. We haven't played each other since, even in practice. Maybe he doesn't want to play against me any more."
