Not a lot has been spoken or heard about the sport of wheelchair tennis. While able-bodied tennis clearly overshadows its wheelchair counterpart in terms of fan following, sponsorship deals and prize money, the latter has given opportunities to numerous athletes to showcase their phenomenal athletic abilities while enjoying the sport. Wheelchair tennis is identical to able-bodied tennis with the exception of the ball being allowed to bounce two times where the second bounce can occur outside the boundaries of the court.
Shingo Kunieda
Shingo Kunieda is a right-handed wheelchair tennis legend hailing from Tokyo, Japan. He has over 50 singles titles, including 23 Grand Slams. Coached by Hiromichi Maruyama, the World No.1 is the only player to have retained the men’s singles title in the Paralympic Games. Kunieda likes playing on hard turf and has a win rate of 88%.
Kunieda was diagnosed with a spinal tumour which ended up leaving him paralysed from waist below, but that did not stop Kunieda from pursuing the sport and becoming a top athlete. He has one of the longest win streaks in wheelchair tennis (106 matches). He is an exceptional athlete with 101 total titles to his name which truly makes him the greatest of all time.
Esther Veeger
Esther Veeger can be described as the greatest wheelchair tennis player of all time and probably one of the greatest athletes to have ever lived. The former World No. 1 has over 148 singles titles and 136 doubles titles to her name, of which 48 are Grand Slams. Vergeer had dominated the female division for over a decade, during which she registered 695 wins and only 25 losses in singles. She also holds a record for the longest win streak (470 matches) and for holding the World No.1 spot for 642 weeks.
Esther suffered from vascular myelopathy as a child. After an operation to treat the condition in 1990, she became paralysed. She turned a wheelchair tennis pro within five years of the operation, but tennis wasn’t the only sport she played. She was also a wheelchair basketball player and was part of the Dutch national team that won the European Championship in 1997.
Esther’s career graph is a display of sheer dominance and it’s safe to say that no one is coming close to matching that anytime soon.
Deide de Groot
If there is anyone who could possibly challenge the records set by Esther Vergeer it is Dedei de Groot, the current World No. 1 wheelchair tennis player. The 24-year-old Dutch national has over 9 singles Grand Slams to her name and 10 doubles titles. Her tennis journey started when she was only seven years old. After going through multiple surgeries for her uneven legs, she adopted the wheelchair sport. Deide turned pro at 17 and won her first Grand Slam title at the 2017 Wimbledon. She is also one of the players who have won back-to-back Wimbledon, Australian Open and US Open titles, but her eye is set on claiming her first Olympic Gold in the upcoming Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Peter Norfolk
Dubbed as “The Quadfather”, Peter Norfolk is a former World No.1 wheelchair tennis player in the quad division. He has won 6 singles Grand Slam titles, 2 doubles titles and also gave Britain its Paralympic gold medal in tennis. A motorbike accident had left him paraplegic when he was only 19, which developed more complications ten years later resulting in him losing strength in his right arm and shoulder. That was when Peter decided to pick up the wheelchair sport and went on to become one of the greats. In a 13-year career he has multiple titles and currently ranks 3rd in all-time quad title winners list.
Also Read | Famous Siblings in tennis
David Hall
David Hall has been considered Australia’s greatest wheelchair tennis player of all time. He has won all the major trophies, including 9 Australian Open, 7 British Open and 8 US Open titles. David Hall’s dominance on Australian soil can be seen from the fact that all of his 9 Australian Open titles were won during a span of ten years (1995-2005). He was also the first non-American to win a US Open Series title.
David lost his limbs in a car accident when he was 16. Already familiar with the sport, he started playing wheelchair tennis. With a career record of 632-111, David reached the World No.1 ranking in 1995. He was ranked World No.1 eight times between 1995-2005. Hall gave Australia its first singles gold at the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games.
To commemorate his amazing career, David Hall was inducted into Australia's Sporting Hall of Fame in 2010. He is also the fourth wheelchair tennis player to be inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Must Read | Top 5 longest tennis matches by duration
