| Wheelchair tennis – Men's singles at the VIII Paralympic Games | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Paralympic wheelchair tennis | |||||||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Men's singles | |
|---|---|
| Wheelchair tennis at the 1988 Summer Paralympics |
The men's singles wheelchair tennis competition at the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul from 15 until 24 October 1988. It was a demonstration sport and there wasn't a match for the third place (two bronze medals were awarded)
| Semifinals | Final (gold medal match) | ||||||||||||
 Mick Connell (AUS) | 6 | 7 | 6 | ||||||||||
 Chip Turner (USA) | 7 | 6 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Mick Connell (AUS) | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
 Laurent Giammartini (FRA) | 6 | 6 | |||||||||||
| Laurent Giammartini (FRA) | 6 | 6 | |||||||||||
 Sasson Aharoni (ISR) | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
The 1988 Summer Paralympics were the first Paralympics in 24 years to take place in the same city as the Olympic Games. They took place in Seoul, South Korea. This was the first time the term "Paralympic" was used officially.
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.
Tennis was part of the Summer Olympic Games program from the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics, but was dropped after the 1924 Summer Olympics due to disputes between the International Lawn Tennis Federation and the International Olympic Committee over how to define amateur players. After two appearances as a demonstration sport in 1968 and 1984, it returned as a full medal sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics open for all players regardless of their age and status and has been played at every summer Games since then.
Shingo Kunieda is a Japanese former wheelchair tennis player. With four Paralympic gold medals, 28 major singles titles – an all-time record in singles of any tennis discipline – and 50 major titles overall, Kunieda is widely considered the greatest male wheelchair player of all time.
Wheelchair basketball has been contested at the Summer Paralympic Games since the 1960 Summer Paralympics in Rome.
Wheelchair tennis at the 1988 Summer Paralympics consisted of men's and women's singles events. Despite wheelchair tennis being contested as a demonstration sport, and not an official part of the Paralympic program, medals were awarded and counted for the overall medal list.
Josie Cichockyj was a British wheelchair athlete. Born in Huddersfield, she competed in the London Marathon women's wheelchair race for a number of years, finishing as runner-up to Kay McShane and Karen Davidson, before winning the 1989 race. Josie won further Marathons including the Leeds, Gloucester, Ottawa and Brussels Marathons. Plus several half Marathons including Great North Run and Reading.
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.
David Robert Hall, OAM is an Australian former professional wheelchair tennis player. With eight US Open singles titles, two Masters singles titles, and a Paralympic gold medal in singles, he has been referred to as Australia's greatest ever wheelchair tennis player.
Michael "Mike" Connell is an Australian former wheelchair tennis player. He won a silver medal in the Men's Singles event at the 1988 Seoul Paralympics. He participated without winning any medals at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics. In 1996, he won the men's doubles at the Australian Open with his partner, David Hall. At the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, he won a silver medal in the Men's Doubles event with Hall.
Australia competed at the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea in 16 sports, winning medals in 6 sports. Gold medals were won in three sports – athletics, lawn bowls and swimming. Australia won 95 medals – 23 gold, 34 silver and 38 bronze medals. Australia finished 10th on the gold medal table and 7th on the combined medal table. Australian Confederation of Sports for the Disabled reported another medal ranking after Games with Australia being 2nd ranked in amputee sports, 8th in wheelchair sports, 11th in blind sports and 12th in cerebral palsy sports.
The women's singles wheelchair tennis competition at the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul from 15 until 24 October 1988. It was a demonstration sport and there wasn't a match for the third place
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.
Wheelchair tennis events at the 2016 Summer Paralympics were held between 8 and 16 September at Olympic Tennis Centre, Rio. This was the seventh full Paralympic wheelchair tennis competition since the event was introduced in 1992, having been a demonstration event in 1988.
France competed at the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea. 116 competitors from France won 140 medals including 46 gold, 44 silver and 50 bronze and finished 5th in the medal table.
Wheelchair tennis at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan took place at the Ariake Tennis Park from 27 August to 4 September 2021.
Joachim Gérard is a Belgian wheelchair tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 in singles.
Laurent Giammartini is a French wheelchair tennis player. At the 1992 Summer Paralympics held in Barcelona, Spain, he won the silver medal in the men's doubles event together with Thierry Caillier and the bronze medal in the men's singles event. He also represented France at the 1988, 1996 and 2000 Summer Paralympics. He did not win a medal at these events.
Brad Alan Parks is an American wheelchair tennis player who co-invented wheelchair tennis with Jeff Minnebraker. During the Uniqlo Wheelchair Tennis Tour in the 1990s, Parks won five singles and seven doubles titles during Championship Series events. During the 1992 Summer Paralympics, Parks reached the quarterfinals in the men's singles and won gold with Randy Snow in the men's doubles. At the 1994 Wheelchair Tennis Masters, Parks also reached the quarterfinals in the men's singles. As an executive, Parks co-founded the National Foundation of Wheelchair Tennis in 1980 before becoming the first president of the International Wheelchair Tennis Federation in 1988. Parks became part of the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2010 and was the 2016 Philippe Chatrier Award recipient from the International Tennis Federation.
Ruth Lamsbach is a German paralympic athlete and multiple medalist at the Paralympic Games.
