“It requires incredible efforts”: how the sports world reacted to the first victory of a deaf tennis player at the ATP tournament

The ATP tournament in American Winston-Salem, which is held after the "Masters" in Cincinnati, cannot boast of an equally stellar composition of participants, but it will definitely go down in the history of tennis. In the first round of the competition, a match was held between two non-seeded players - Lee Tuk Hee and Henry Laaxsonen. With a score of 7: 6, 6: 1, the South Korean took the top, occupying the 212nd line of the world ranking. This result could go unnoticed if it were not for one feature of the winner: an athlete has been deaf since childhood.

Lee Tuk Hee's parents immediately suspected he had problems with hearing, but at first they did not attach much importance to this, hoping that everything would get better with age. However, when he was two years old, doctors confirmed the worst fears, revealing the child's congenital deafness.

It was the parents who played a decisive role in his formation as a professional athlete. Mom Li sent her son to evening school for ordinary children. In her opinion, this was to help her son adapt better in society, as well as find a higher-paying job.

In addition, the family understood the importance of sports for children with hearing impairment. However, the boy stopped his choice of tennis himself. By chance, a racket fell into his hands and, after inflicting several blows, he decided that this was what he wanted to do in the future.

At the same time, at first everything was not so rosy. The coaches were skeptical of the deaf boy and did not want to take him to their groups.

“People laughed at me because of my deafness and said that I should not play. It was definitely difficult, but my family and friends helped me cope. I wanted to prove to everyone that I will succeed, ”the official site of ATP quotes the South Korean.

Neither ridicule nor skepticism of experts could not break the desire of Lee Tuk Hee to become a professional tennis player. His idols were Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. In addition, a cousin of Chang Hayo Wu, who is currently his trainer, became a role model for him.

At age 14, Lee Took Hee made his debut in the Futures Series, in which he subsequently won eight titles. In addition, he has won three Challenger finals. The highest position in the world ranking is the 130th line, which he managed to climb in April 2017.

Lee Tuk Hee does not know sign language and communicates with others, reading lips. However, this does not prevent him from making friends and leading a full-fledged lifestyle.

Sometimes difficulties arise on the court, as the tennis player has to navigate through the gestures of the judges, as well as to keep track of the score. This is especially true at lower level competitions, which are often not equipped with electronic scoreboards.

Winston-Salem Open was the first ATP tournament in Lee Tuk Hee's career. In the future, he intends to surpass the achievement of his compatriot Lee Hyun Thek, who in 2003 became the first and so far the only holder of the ATP tournament title from South Korea, as well as pave the way to the top of the world ranking. However, the athlete would like to inspire everyone who suffers from a similar ailment by his example.

“I want to say to people with hearing impairments: do not despair. If you try hard, you can achieve everything you want, ”he added.

However, many have already dubbed the achievement of Lee Tuk Hee a colossal breakthrough not only for tennis players, but also for all athletes with hearing impairments. His colleagues expressed their admiration. So, three-time winner of the Grand Slam tournaments Andy Murray admitted that it is difficult for him to imagine himself in the place of a South Korean.

“If I played with headphones, it would be incredibly difficult for me to catch the speed of the ball, the rotation that is given to it by a racket strike. Ears very often help us in such situations. Of course, this puts Lee Tuk Hee at a disadvantage, and what he does requires incredible efforts, ”the Briton said.

American Tennis Sandgren also spoke about his first meeting with a South Korean on the court. He admitted that he was struck not only by the willpower of the opponent, but also his desire to work for himself, despite the lack.

“A couple of years ago, I beat him, and after the match, he came up to me with a Google translator and asked:“ What are my weaknesses? ” For a person with deafness, who also almost does not speak English, to do this ... I certainly could not! It was really great. You learn a lot about an opponent’s blow on the sound of the ball. But if you don’t hear it ... You must have incredible skill and talent, ”Lee Took Hee Sandgren admired.

The second round match in the Winston-Salem tournament was less successful for the South Korean. In three sets, he lost to the Pole Hubert Hurkach with a score of 6: 4, 0: 6, 3: 6. However, we can safely assume that the current success will not be the last in his career.

“I think deafness actually helps me. Because of her, I have to focus more and try harder, ”concluded Lee Tuk Hee.