A South Korean's Soundless Journey Through Junior Tennis PARIS - A 15-year-old from South Korea has emerged as one of the world's top junior tennis players without ever hearing the sound of a ball being struck or a score being called. He is deaf. Duck Hee Lee of Jechon City, South Korea, suffered twin losses at Roland Garros, losing in the first round of junior singles and doubles. But last week in Budapest, Lee won five singles matches to collect the Epitok-Abris Cup, defeating Dennis Uspensky of Atlantic Beach, N.Y., in the final. In April, he won the Asian Junior Closed Championship in his age bracket, defeating Ken Onishi of Japan in the final. Speaking through a translator who is also his sports agent, Lee, ranked 29th by the International Tennis Federation, said he reads the lips of his doubles partner to learn what strategy is being pursued. At Roland Garros, Lee's partner was a childhood friend, Hyeon Chung, 17, one of the country's top juniors. Chung is ranked 15th. Lee doesn't play doubles much, said K.C. Lee, a sports agent who travels with Lee (and is no relation) to some of the world's major junior tournaments. In Tuesday's doubles match, Lee and Chung battled for 85 minutes to a razor-thin defeat, losing 4-6, 6-4, 13-11, to Kyle Edmund, 18, of Britain and Frederico Ferreira Silva, 18, of Portugal, the third seeded team. The match ended with the victors winning 73 points to the losers" 72. "What can you do about it?" said Lee in mild exasperation. Alternatively speaking Korean and writing questions in Korean, the translator obtained brief answers to several questions. Without hearing ordinary tennis match sounds, Lee watches the ball at every moment. "First he sees, then he acts," said the translator. Lee is entered in the Wimbledon junior boys competition, K.C. Lee said, adding, "He would like to play in the grass." Asked if he believed he could some day win one of the world's major junior championships, Lee said he believed he could. His choice for his first major championship title was clear. "Wimbledon," said young Lee, pronouncing the word carefully and clearly.