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Deaf Korean tennis player stars alongside Djokovic in Australian Open campaign

January 9, 2015

A captured image from ANZ’s marketing campaign, “Your Game, Your Way” (Courtesy of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group)

By Kwon Ji-youn

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), which sponsors the Australian Open, has unveiled a marketing campaign that stars a rising Korean tennis player Lee Duck-hee alongside World No.1 Novak Djokovic.

The tennis campaign video series, titled “Your Game, Your Way,” features the stories of four people who have made breakthroughs with tennis — World ranked No. 1 Djokovic; the 1989 French Open champion and the youngest-ever men’s Grand Slam winner Michael Chang; Anna, an eight-year-old girl who travels 330 kilometers a week to attend tennis lessons; and Lee.

Lee Duck-hee (Korea Times)

Lee, 16, speaks about his disability and his dreams. Lee was born deaf, and can only hear vibrations, so he relies solely on hand gestures for game calls.

“Playing on tours is challenging, and I miss my family,” he said in the video. “My dream is to be No.1 in the world. I learned that I had a hearing disability when I was given a hearing aid in second grade. I now feel like I can play better because I can concentrate more than other players.”

Lee earned his first Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking point in 2013 and in 2014, placed 6th among junior boys in the International Tennis Federation rankings.

Back in 2006, Lee, then eight years old, met Rafael Nadal when the Spanish “King of Clay” visited Korea to compete in an exhibition match. Lee was also able to rally with Roger Federer at the exhibition match. Nadal and Federer are Lee’s role models.

In 2013, Nadal posted on his Twitter, “there’s a lot to learn from Lee Duck-hee.” When he revisited Korea in September that year, he gave Lee a one-point lesson.

In 2014, the two were reunited in Paris, where Lee was the only junior Nadal invited for a lesson on senior courts. Afterwards, the Grand Slam great wished him luck.

Lee was also the first Korean player to appear in a TV documentary on Wimbledon, appearing alongside Nadal, Federer and Djokovic, to speak about his dedication in tennis despite his disability.

The video will air on television and radio throughout the Australian Open, which kicks off on Jan. 19.