Lee Hyung-taik dares to dream again

This is the third articles in an interview series with sports legends. ― ED.

By Baek Byung-yeul, Kwon Ji-youn

In 2009, tennis pioneer Lee Hyung-taik announced his retirement to worries that the country would be left in the lurch without a decent successor ― and as though he had cottoned on to such a reality, the 39-year-old declared a sudden comeback in less than four years.

In an interview with The Korea Times, Lee said he had at the time retired because he had sustained injuries that he felt would affect his performances, and because he had been anxious about building a new future.

“I had been suffering from a knee injury when I retired,” he said. “And I was also fatigued from my life as a professional tennis player, having toured around the world for so long.”

In time, he was offered the chance to set up his own tennis school in his home province Gangwon ― the “Lee Hyung-taik Tennis Academy.”

Lee Hyung-taik speaks during an interview with The Korea Times in Hannam-dong, Seoul, on Dec. 21, 2014. / Korea Times photo by Nam Hyun-woo

“I had been No. 130 in world rankings at the time, and it had felt right to stop playing pro,” Lee said.

But four years had given him time to realize how much he missed playing tennis professionally, and to conclude that he was “still attached to the sport.”

“After retirement, I sometimes competed at local tennis championships, and was surprised to see I could easily reach the semi-final or final though I did not prepare thoroughly for matches,” he said. “I thought, maybe I could reappear in doubles tournaments.”

Lee’s career had hit an all-time high when he became the first Korean to win both the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles and doubles titles in 2003. But it wasn’t easy getting there.

Lee Hyung-taik, left, takes over the flame from former basketball player Park Chan-sook during the Incheon Asian Games opening ceremony in Incheon on Sept. 19, 2014. / Korea Times file

Unlike neighboring countries, which have consistently had players show off great performances at the topmost level, like Li Na from China and Kei Nishikori from Japan, Korea had remained on the periphery of international courts until Lee surfaced on tours from the late 1990s to the mid 2000s.

Best known for his signature one-handed backhand and white tennis cap, Lee made headlines when he reached the round of 16 at the U.S. Open, a major international tennis championships, in 2000. The then 24-year-old rookie had been forced to taste the bitterness of defeat following a match against America’s tennis great Pete Sampras in the fourth round.

He matched his best Grand Slam performance in 2007 when he again made the fourth round of the U.S. Open, and though he had lost to fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko, he had en route won a career-high 25 matches and charged his way to World rank No. 36.

Lee has been a leading tennis player in the country since. He had become the second Korean to advance to the round of 16 at a major tennis competition, following Lee Duk-hee, who first arrived at the milestone with the French Open in 1981.

“I had needed a weapon of my own to go up against such European tennis players, most of whom are tall, strong and very fast,” Lee said. “These athletes from Europe play tennis to survive. The competition is fierce.”

Lee’s weapon had been to surprise his opponents.

“A tennis tour is like a jungle,” he said. “You have to play someone to understand their strengths and weaknesses, and so at the beginning, all my opponents seemed to notice that my backhand wasn’t effective when hitting back high balls. So I worked on building up my shoulder muscles.”

Lee used confidence as another weapon.

“You have to avoid feeling intimidated by your opponent,” he said. “I focused on winning just one set. When I did, that made me realize that winning may not be easy, but it’s doable.”

Chung Hyeon, 18, is a strong tennis player in that sense, he noted.

“He’s strong-willed and works very hard,” he added. “In one or two years, I expect he will nudge his way into the top 100.”

In 2008, a disappointing losing streak pushed Lee out of the top 100, and the following year, he put down the racquet.

Harsh realities of Korean tennis

For four years, he worked on fostering new talent in tennis, but here, he was confronted with the realities of Korean tennis.

“To be a good tennis player, you first and foremost need to be a good athlete,” he said. “Sure, if you hit balls enough, you can play the game, but to win at pro level, you need to be athletic.”

That’s where Korea systematically falls short, he says.

“Students spend most of their time hitting balls when they’re learning,” he said. “But that’s not all there is to the sport. They need to train so that they can move and react faster.”

For instance, Lim Yong-kyu is a good athlete with a strong serve, Lee said.

“But that’s on the domestic level,” he said. “Lim doesn’t quite know when to slow down. That’s why he sustains injuries.”

He noted that most students learn tennis at school, but these students are expected to do well both in tennis and in their studies, no matter how much they excel in one or the other.

“It’s a vicious cycle,” he said. “Athletes fall behind in school and so are forced to choose one or the other. If they choose to play tennis, they worry about after retirement, or about what they may be left with should be sustain a major injury.”

He stressed that the system needs to take all of these possibilities into consideration.

“If they want to go pro, they need to be provided with a system that will allow them to train as much as they need to but will also provide them with the education they need should they decide to give the sport up,” he said.

“They shouldn’t be forced to compete with regular students as their future can end up more specialized, perhaps in training or in therapy.”

Future plans

Lee hopes to build his academy into one that allows youth to experience a variety of sports before deciding on one to pursue professionally.

“For instance, I hope to one day offer lessons in four different sports, so that youth can experience them all before deciding to walk a certain path,” he said. “This will reduce chances of failure and they won’t be forced to do what their parents want them to do.”

And on a more individual note, Lee hopes to compete once again at the Grand Slam tournaments in the doubles.

“It won’t be easy, since I’m not a part of a team, and so I’ll be doing everything ― training, recruiting coaches and drafting partners ― by myself,” he said. “But I think I made the right choice. I’m glad to be back.”