Friday, August 31, 2007

An Unsung Hero(Hyung Taik Lee)


Lee Hyung-Taik is considered by many as the most successful South-Korean tennis player. This supremely talented player is one of the hardest hitters of the tennis ball in the game and has the craft to match even the best in the world on his day. One of his greatest moments came in the second round of wimbledon 2006 when he was defeated in 5 sets by the former champion and two time semifinalist Lleyton Hewitt. The match included three tie breakers and it is widely said that the incorrect line call which lee recieved in one of the tie breaker, tilted the balance of the match in favour of hewitt who eventually went on to win the match. Back in 2003,Lee defeated juan carlos ferrero in the final of the Adidas International in Sydney to become the first korean to win an ATP Tour Singles. Well we hear a lot about david beckhams, zidanes, samprases and federers but hardly any people know about players like lee hyung taik. They are just constantly sidelined as underdogs and probably not even a line is dedicated to them in newspapers. Entering tennis late and coming from a potato farming village i can only imagine the number of hurdles Lee would have faced to become a professional tennis player. I just hope that with some luck he may be able to win a grand slam and to an extent justify his true potential. Currently he has entered the third round in US open 2007. Have to see how far he goes. Anyway i do not think the age is on his side either,already he will be one of the oldest tennis players at 31. Whereever he goes, whatever he achieves, lee hyung taik will always have a special place in my heart.

"It is not necessarily the strongest who always inspire you but the ones that fight to the very end irrespective of their ability."

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