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Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designed wheelchairs, and the ball may bounce up to two times, where the second bounce may also occur outside the court.
Esther Mary Vergeer is a Dutch former professional wheelchair tennis player. Vergeer won 48 major titles, 23 year-end championships, and seven Paralympic gold medals. She was the world No. 1 in women's wheelchair singles from 1999 to her retirement in February 2013. Vergeer went undefeated in singles for ten straight years, ending her career on a winning streak of 470 matches. She has often been named the most dominant player in professional sports.
Lucy Shuker is a British wheelchair tennis player who is currently the highest ranked woman in the sport in Britain. A previous singles & doubles National Champion, Lucy has represented Great Britain at three successive Paralympic Games, twice winning a bronze medal in the women's doubles and is former World Doubles Champion and World Team Cup Silver Medallist amongst a number of other National and International successes.
Peter Robert Norfolk OBE is a British wheelchair tennis player. Following a motorbike accident which left him paraplegic, he uses a wheelchair. He took up tennis and following a further spinal complication in 2000, he began competing in the quad division. He is nicknamed The Quadfather.
Dylan Martin Alcott, is an Australian former wheelchair tennis player, former wheelchair basketball player, radio host and motivational speaker. Alcott was a member of the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team, known colloquially as the Australian "Rollers". At the age of 17, he became the youngest Rollers gold medal winner, at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, and was the youngest to compete in the wheelchair basketball competition. In 2014, he returned to wheelchair tennis with the aim of participating at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, at which he won gold medals in the Men's Quad Singles and Doubles. He was named the 2016 Australian Paralympian of the Year due to his outstanding achievements at Rio.
David Wagner is an American wheelchair tennis player. Paralyzed from the mid-chest down and with thirty percent function in his hands, he competes in the quad division. He plays by taping the tennis racket to his hand. He is currently ranked number three in the world in singles and number two in doubles.
Wheelchair tennis was first contested at the Summer Paralympics as a demonstration sport in 1988, with two events being held. It became an official medal-awarding sport in 1992 and has been competed at every Summer Paralympics since then. Four events were held from 1992 to 2000, with quad events in both singles and doubles added in 2004.
Great Britain competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012 as the host nation. A total of 288 athletes were selected to compete along with 13 other team members such as sighted guides. The country finished third in the medals table, behind China and Russia, winning 120 medals in total; 34 gold, 43 silver and 43 bronze. Multiple medallists included cyclist Sarah Storey and wheelchair athlete David Weir, who won four gold medals each, and swimmer Stephanie Millward who won a total of five medals. Storey also became the British athlete with the most overall medals, 22, and equal-most gold medals, 11, in Paralympic Games history.
Daniela "Danni" Di Toro is an Australian wheelchair tennis and table tennis player. Di Toro was the 2010 French Open doubles champion and has also been the Masters double champion. In singles, Di Toro is the former world number one and two time masters finalist. In 2015, she moved to para-table tennis and represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, where she was team captain with Kurt Fearnley. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, her sixth Paralympics, she was the team captain and Opening Ceremony flag bearer with Ryley Batt.
Jiske Griffioen is a Dutch professional wheelchair tennis player. In doubles, Griffioen is a 14-time major champion, Paralympic gold medalist, seven-time Masters champion, and a former world No. 1. Alongside Aniek van Koot, Griffioen completed the Grand Slam in doubles in 2013. In singles, Griffioen is a three-time Masters champion, Paralympic gold medalist, four-time major champion, and a former world No. 1.
Wheelchair tennis classification is the classification system for wheelchair tennis designed to bring fair play for all competitors. Classification is overseen by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and carried out by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Sharon Walraven is a Dutch wheelchair tennis player. She became paraplegic at age 23 after complications following a fall while she was ice-skating. She has won seven Grand Slams doubles titles partnering compatriot Esther Vergeer. At the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing she won the gold medal in the women's doubles competition. At the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney she won a silver medal in the women's singles competition. Walraven has a highest ranking of No.2 in singles and No.1 in doubles.
Jordanne Joyce Whiley MBE is a British retired wheelchair tennis player. Aged 14, she became Britain's youngest ever national women's singles champion in wheelchair tennis. She has osteogenesis imperfecta as does her father, Keith, who was also a Paralympian and won a bronze medal in 1984 in New York. As well as the 2015 US Open in wheelchair singles, Whiley has won 9 Grand Slam doubles titles, and she & Japanese Yui Kamiji are the fourth team in women's wheelchair doubles to complete the Calendar Year Grand Slam. Whiley was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2015 Queens Birthday Honours list for services to wheelchair tennis.
Caz Walton OBE is a British retired wheelchair athlete and former Great Britain Paralympic team manager. She was a multi-disciplinary gold medallist who competed in numerous Paralympic Games. Between 1964 and 1976 she won medals in athletics, swimming, table tennis, and fencing. She took a break from the Paralympics, entering the basketball and fencing competitions in 1988. In total Walton won ten gold medals during her Paralympic career, making her one of the most successful British athletes of all time. Walton should also have been awarded gold in the 1968 Tel Aviv Women's Pentathlon incomplete but, due to a miscalculation of her total score which went unnoticed at the time, she was given third place and a bronze medal.
Andrew David Lapthorne is a British wheelchair tennis player. He took up wheelchair tennis in 2005, and entered the quad division in 2008. He is active in both singles and doubles tournaments, and has 13 multiple grand slam titles in singles and doubles. He competed at his first Summer Paralympics at London 2012 in the quad singles and in the quad doubles, in which he won a silver medal and is now a three-time Paralympic medallist and British no.1 Quad tennis player, who started playing wheelchair tennis at the age of ten.
Aniek van Koot is a Dutch wheelchair tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles.
Nicholas Taylor is an American wheelchair tennis player. Nick started playing tennis at the age of 14. He has played 5 times in the Australian Open and 7 times in the US Open (tennis). He has a total of 11 grand slam quad doubles titles, all of them won with partner David Wagner. Taylor and Wagner are the most successful partnership to ever play at the UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters. They have won the title 11 times as of November 2018.
Heath Arthur Davidson, is an Australian wheelchair tennis player. Davidson is a four-time Australian Open doubles champion, all partnering Dylan Alcott. He has also won two Paralympic medals, a gold and silver in doubles at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, respectively.
Diede de Groot is a Dutch wheelchair tennis player who is the current world No. 1 in both singles and doubles.
Wheelchair tennis at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan took place at the Ariake Tennis Park from 27 August to 4 September 2021.
References
- 1 2 "Sarah Hunter". Canadian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- 1 2 Hill, Mary Frances (5 September 2008). "Sarah Hunter found freedom on the court". Vancouver Sun. p. F3. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
- ↑ "Road to Parapan Am: Spotlight on Sarah Hunter". Tennis Canada. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ↑ "UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ↑ Greenizan, Nick (11 February 2014). "Hunter 'really surprised' by second comeback honour". Peach Arch News. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
- ↑ Greenizan, Nick (30 January 2014). "White Rock's Sarah Hunter honoured with Harry Jerome award". Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ↑ "Canada's most decorated wheelchair tennis athlete Sarah Hunter announces retirement". Tennis Canada. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ↑ "Past Winners". Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association. Retrieved 5 July 2018.