Let's Talk Wheelchair Tennis

Let’s explore the history of wheelchair tennis!

Wheelchair tennis has been an important part of the ATP Grand Slam circuit since 2007, however did you know the sport’s history harks back to the mid 1970s when Brad Parks co-invented the modern game with Jeff Minnebraker?

This dynamic duo created the sport’s rules and pioneered its worldwide acceptance, however the history of the sport actually stretches further back into the history books, as an interesting summary available here explains.

Nowadays, there are three categories (Men, Women, Quads) that make up wheelchair tennis, each with their singles and doubles counterparts, and the Uniqlo Wheelchair Tennis Tour is where the best athletes compete beyond the ATP Grand Slams.

Currently Alfie Hewett occupies the number one spot in the men’s singles while Diede De Groot leads the women’s singles rankings. In the quads singles, fellow Dutch representative Niels Vink has a strong lead over Sam Schroder with Brit Andy Lapthorne in third place.

The men’s doubles see Brit Gordon Reid on the same points as Alfie Hewett, while over in the women’s doubles, Diede De Groot again leads in first place followed by Aniek Van Koot. The quad doubles has Sam Schroder and Niels Vink leading the way in a one-two position.

If you’ve never seen wheelchair tennis before, make sure you tune into Wimbledon to see the best of the best or why not learn more about the sport and its many personalities over on Twitter by searching WheelchairTennis. This is a great place to start.

We don’t have favourites at Team UnLimbited so all that’s left is to wish everyone competing in future tournaments good luck.

We’ll be watching eagerly and cheering everyone on, and who knows, perhaps we’ll design a tennis themed arm in the future!