| Wheelchair tennis – Women's singles at the VIII Paralympic Games | |||||||||||||||||
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 Paralympic wheelchair tennis | |||||||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||||||
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| Women's singles | |
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| Wheelchair tennis at the 1988 Summer Paralympics |
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 (two bronze medals were awarded)
| Semifinals | Final (gold medal match) | ||||||||||||
 Monique Van Den Bosch (NED) | 6 | 6 | |||||||||||
 Terry Lewis (USA) | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Monique Van Den Bosch (NED) | 6 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Chantal Vandierendonck (NED) | 0 | 6 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Chantal Vandierendonck (NED) | 6 | 6 | |||||||||||
| Ellen de Lange (NED) | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
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" came into official use.
Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height, 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.
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.
Oman made its Paralympic Games début at the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, with competitors taking part in track and field, table tennis, weightlifting and wheelchair fencing. The country has participated in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics, but has never entered the Winter Paralympics. Oman's largest delegation was in 1988 with seven athletes. Only male athletes competed until 2016 when Raya Al’Abri competed in women's javelin. Oman won its first medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics when Mohammed al-Mashaykhi won bronze in the Men's shot put F32.
Mick "Michael" Connell is an Australian 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.
Daniela "Danni" Di Toro is an Australian wheelchair 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.
Wheelchair tennis events at the 2012 Summer Paralympics were held between 1 and 9 September at Eton Manor, London.
Janel Manns is an Australian wheelchair tennis player. She has been selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in tennis.
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
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.
Marjolein Buis is a Dutch retired wheelchair tennis player. Buis won 18 singles titles and 52 doubles titles. She won the gold medal in the women's doubles event with Esther Vergeer along with six grand slam doubles and two masters titles. In 2016 Buis won her only grand slam singles title at the French Open. Buis had a career high ranking of No. 3 in singles and No. 1 in doubles.
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.
Chantal Vandierendonck is a Dutch wheelchair tennis player. Vandierendonck won various wheelchair tennis championships held by the International Tennis Federation and multiple Paralympic medals from 1988 to 1996. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2014.
Monique Kalkman-Van den Bosch is a Dutch wheelchair tennis player who also played table tennis in addition to her sport career. Monique has competed at the Paralympics in 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996. In 2017, she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame
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.
