Washington (AFP)
South Korean Duckhee Lee makes history: Winston Salem (USA) became the first deaf tennis player to win a match in the final draw of an ATP tournament on Monday.
The 21-year-old tennis player came out victorious in his first round, not without having to handle a five-hour break because of a storm, against Switzerland's Henri Laaksonen, 7-6 (7/4), 6-1. It was his first encounter on the main circuit.
"People were making fun of me for my disability, they were telling me that I should not be playing, it was really hard, but my friends and family helped me move forward, I wanted to show everyone that I could do it, "moved Lee after his historic victory.
"My message for the hearing impaired is not to get discouraged, if you give yourself the means, you can do anything," added the player ranked in 212th place worldwide, so far long confined to the circuit Challenger (second division).
Her disability makes her life hard. He can not hear the line judges or the chair referee's score announcements: he must therefore rely on gestures to avoid confusion. He does not perceive the sound of bullets.
Apart from the courts, it also requires him to be assisted to understand including media issues. He does not know sign language because he learned to read Korean on the lips when he was a child, and his way of expressing himself is not necessarily easy to understand, even for a South Korean. On Monday, his fiancée had to help a South Korean translator so that the player's impressions could be shared with the press.
"I thought I was going to do my best and try to stay focused, but I came out with the win," he said.
For his second round, facing the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (40th world), Lee wants to have "the same attitude": "Do my best and see what happens."
© 2019 AFP