Three years ago, Lin Ye was a tennis prodigy who burst onto the scene.
He won the U18 national boys’ singles title and reached the semifinals of the French Open juniors. He was hailed as the only Chinese men’s tennis player in a decade with a real shot at a Grand Slam.
Then, during a semifinal, his tendon suddenly tore and he had to withdraw. A wave of slander followed, accusing him of lacking discipline and secretly using painkillers to play through the injury. The provincial team kicked him out, the national youth team dropped him, and his sponsors canceled their contracts. He fell from the clouds into the mud and vanished overnight.
Everyone thought the prodigy had fallen for good. No one knew that he spent the next three years working quietly as a tennis court attendant at the Leshan Olympic Sports Center.
For three years, he swept all eighteen courts while training his core, dragged a mop across every inch of the grounds while refining his footwork, and stayed up late after closing, gripping a battered old racket and taking hundreds of thousands of swings, breaking himself down and rebuilding from scratch.
His return came at the city amateur tournament.
Jiang Tian, the provincial team’s top player, boasted, “No one here can return even three of my serves.” Lin Ye walked out calmly in a faded work uniform and blasted an ace past him. The whole crowd erupted.
He shut out the provincial team’s top player 6–0, exposed the underhanded use of banned substances on the spot, cleared his name after three years of injustice, and soon received a call-up to the national team. A wildcard for the National Games was placed in his hands.
Now he has taken up his racket again. From the duty room at the Olympic Sports Center, he will fight his way to the National Games, the ATP Tour, the clay courts of Roland-Garros, and the highest podium of the Grand Slams.
He’ll take back everything he’s owed, point by point, with interest. He’ll walk every step of the road he left unfinished until he reaches the summit.
Beyond the baseline lies the throne. This time, he’ll make the whole world remember the name Lin Ye!
