WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Sumasagitsit ang unang service play ni Duckhee Lee sa ATP tournament. Ngunit, gaano man ito kalakas, tiyak na hindi ito maririnig ng 21-anyos South Korean.

Ipinanganak siyang bingi.

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Sa kabila nito, nais ni Lee – kauna-unahang deaf professional player – na patunayan na may lugar ang tulad niya sa high-level kompetisyon.

At sa kanyang unang top-level tournament sigurao siyang makapagtatapos sa second round. Ginapi ni Lee si Henri Laaksonen ng Switzerland, 7-6 (4), 6-1, sa first round ng Winston-Salem Open nitong Lunes (Martes sa Manila) para maisaayos ang second round match up kay No. 3 seed Hubert Hurkacz ng Poland.

"Don't be discouraged and if you try hard, you can do anything, you can achieve anything you want," pahayag ni Lee, sa pamamagitan ng interpreter.

Mahalaga sa sports competition tulad sa tennis ang pandinig sa mga importanteng pahayag at sa krusyal na sitwasyon.

"I'm never going to know what that's like to compete like that," pahayag ni Andy Murray. "But he's obviously doing extremely well. So it's obviously an unbelievable achievement.

"I know how important hearing is in tennis," aniya. "To read the spins and to see how like, if I was to play with headphones on, it's unbelievably difficult to pick up the speed that the ball's coming at, the spin that's coming. We use our ears a lot to pick things up."

Ang kakulangan ni Lee sa pandinig ay binabawi niya sa bilis ng kanyang pariramdam, mga mata at pag-aaral sa galawa ng karibal.