Lee Duck-hee on Monday became the first deaf player to win an ATP match, making a statement with a straight-sets win over Henri Laaksonen in the Winston-Salem Open.
“People made fun of me for my disability. They told me I shouldn’t be playing,” the 21-year-old South Korean said after shrugging off a lengthy rain delay to post a 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 victory.
“It was definitely difficult, but my friends and family helped me get through,” Lee said. “I wanted to show everyone that I could do this. My message for people who are hearing impaired is to not be discouraged. If you try hard, you can do anything.”
Photo: AP
Lee, ranked No. 212 in the world, turned pro at 15 and achieved his best ATP singles ranking of 130th in the world in 2017.
He admits that his disability can make life on the court frustrating: He cannot hear line calls or the umpire’s call of the score, and relies on gestures to sort out any confusion.
At Lee’s post-match news conference, his fiancee pitched in to help out a Korean translator.
It was the end of a long day for Lee, who was two points from victory when thunderstorms swept through the area.
When he and Switzerland’s Laaksonen returned some five hours later, Lee quickly polished off a win that he admitted he had not been expecting.
“I thought that I was just going to do my best and try to stay focused, but I came out a winner,” Lee said.
Lee next faces third-seeded Hubert Hurkacz, the world No. 40 from Poland, in the second round.
“I’m going to go to the match with the same attitude,” Lee said. “I’m going to do my best and see what happens.”
Andy Murray on Monday fell in the first round of the Winston-Salem Open, where the three-time Grand Slam champion was giving his surgically repaired hip just its second test in singles play.
Britain’s Murray, who in January feared that his hip trouble would end his career, accepted a wild card into this week’s tournament.
He showed glimpses of his once-dominant self, but was inconsistent in a 7-6 (10-8), 7-5 loss to 73rd-ranked Tennys Sandgren of the US in a match lasting 2 hours, 10 minutes.
“Some things were a bit better today I think,” Murray said. “Physically, [I’m] OK considering — no pain, no discomfort. Just a little bit more tired than usual.”
BRONX OPEN
Reuters
The Czech Republic’s 10th seed Karolina Muchova on Monday beat Slovakia’s Viktoria Kuzmova 7-5, 6-2 to move into the second round of the Bronx Open, while fourth seed Zhang Shuai was knocked out in straight sets.
Muchova, who reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final at Wimbledon last month, won an incredible 93 percent of her first serve points. She did not face a single break point in the match, wrapping up the contest in 69 minutes.
The 22-year-old Czech next faces US wildcard Kristie Ahn, who beat Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann earlier in the day.
Zhang, another Wimbledon quarter-finalist this year, was knocked out by Germany’s Andrea Petkovic, who broke the Chinese five times in a 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Petkovic, ranked 55 places below her opponent, regularly attacked Zhang’s second serve with powerful returns. Even though Zhang won four games in a row in the second set, she was no match for her big-hitting opponent.
Another US wildcard, Coco Vandeweghe, who was sidelined with an ankle injury for 10 months until her return to the tour last month, was knocked out 6-3, 6-0 by Russia’s Anna Blinkova.
Fifth seed Katerina Siniakova advanced at the expense of Wang Yafan with a straightforward 6-3, 6-2 win.
Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu saw off the challenge of Germany’s Laura Siegemund, despite dropping the opening set with a 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 victory.
In women’s doubles, duo Margarita Gasparyan of Russia and Monica Niculescu of Romania defeated Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei and Hsieh Yu-Chieh 6-1, 7-5.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB