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| Paralympics History |
| Paralympic Tennis |
| | Seoul 1988 |
|  | Barcelona 1992 |
| | Atlanta 1996 |
| | Sydney 2000 |
| Medallists |
| | OMC |
| | Medal Table |
| | Barcelona 1992 |
| | Atlanta 1996 |
| | Sydney 2000 |
| | Athens 2004 |
| | Beijing 2008 |
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| Barcelona 1992 |
The inclusion of wheelchair tennis as a full medal sport in 1992 put it firmly into the public eye as an entertaining and physically demanding activity for players from all over the world. Fifteen nations were represented in the men's draw of 32 players with 15 of the world's top 20 men competing. The women's draw comprised 16 players from nine nations including the top six women in the world.
The event took place from 4 - 12 September at the Vall D'Hebron site in Barcelona, which had witnessed the thrill and excitement of the Olympic Tennis Event just two weeks before. An inspired Jennifer Capriati of USA had overcome all the odds to defeat the World No. 1, Steffi Graf of Germany in a thrilling final 3-6 6-3 6-4 in front of a capacity crowd. No less exciting in the men's event, the unseeded Marc Rosset of Switzerland carried off the gold medal in a dramatic five set victory over Jordi Arrese of Spain 7-6 6-4 3-6 4-6 8-6. The stage was set for a monumental Paralympics.
The world's top players gathered in Barcelona for this fantastic event. Randy Snow of the USA, World No. 1 and 1991 World Champion, headed a strong US team, which included Brad Parks, Jim Black, and Scott Douglas - ranked 6, 11 and 13 respectively at the time. But Snow was actually tied on ranking points with Frenchman Laurent Giammartini, who was just bumped into the number two slot since he had played more tournaments. World No. 7 Abde Naili joined Giammartini along with Thierry Caillier ranked 15 to form a very strong French team who would challenge the USA all the way.
There were only two real surprises in the early rounds as matches generally ran true to form. Martin Legner of Austria, ranked 19 at the time, showed his potential on clay when he defeated World No. 9, Stefan Bitterauf of Germany, 6-3 6-3. In the women's draw, Janet McMorran of Great Britain, ranked 13 had one of the best wins of her career at the time, overcoming the fourth seed, Ellen de Lange of the Netherlands 7-6 6-4 in the first round.
Abde Naili of France, seeded five proved to be one of the inspirations of the tournament. After an easy win in the first round over Jordi Ros of Spain 6-1 6-1, he came up against Jim Black of USA. A tremendous battle lasting nearly three hours saw Naili victorious 6-3 4-6 7-6. He then had to pull out all the stops in the quarterfinal to defeat the number three seed Mick Connell of Australia in another close encounter, 7-6 6-4.
But it was to be the semifinal match against Randy Snow that was heralded as "one of the best wheelchair tennis matches of all time". In front of a capacity crowd of 6,000, Naili and Snow played inspirational tennis in a constant battle for that all-important place in the final. The crowd often showed their appreciation for the quality of play by applauding too early, as the players displayed tremendous agility around the court to retrieve balls on the second bounce and sustain the rally. But it was Snow who eventually took the match and the place in the final after two and a half hours of constant tension, 6-7 6-4 6-3.
The other semifinal proved to be a different story. Twenty-four year old Kai Schrameyer of Germany, who had only been playing wheelchair tennis for two years, defeated the second seed, Laurent Giammartini of France in straight sets, 6-2 6-2. It was the first time Schrameyer had ever defeated Giammartini.
The final created a first in wheelchair tennis history, being shown live on television and was as thrilling as the semifinal between Snow and Naili. Schrameyer took the first set 6-2 in less than half an hour and appeared to be in control. But Snow proved his mental toughness once again by battling back to win the second set 6-4. The third set was a battle of wills as both players vied for the coveted gold medal. Finally it was to be Snow who triumphed taking the third set 6-4 and claiming the first ever Paralympic tennis gold medal.
No one would be surprised to see an all-Dutch final in the women's draw. Monique Van Den Bosch and Chantal Vandierendonck were the World No. 1 and 2 at the time and between them had taken every title in the run up to the Paralympics. But the route to the final was not perhaps as smooth as they might have wished.
With only four seeds in the 16 draw, the unseeded World No. 5 Nancy Olson met Van Den Bosch in the quarterfinal. In another marathon match, Van den Bosch had to survive two match points in the third set but finally went on to defeat Olson 6-3 4-6 7-6. Vandierendonck didn't drop a set en route to the final but came closest in the quarterfinal against Oristelle Marx of France whom she finally defeated 6-1 7-5.
But Van den Bosch proved too strong in the gold medal match. In typical fashion, Vandierendonck battled to the end but Van den Bosch's consistency and placement substantiated her World No. 1 ranking to win 6-3 6-4 and take the gold.
There was only one real surprise in the doubles. The Australian pair of Mick Connell and David Hall had shown potential all year as a great doubles team, but their early loss to Martin Legner and Robert Troppacher of Austria ended their hopes of a medal for 1992. The Austrians continued their winning streak until the semifinal, losing only to the number two seeds from France - Laurent Giammartini and Thierry Caillier.
In the other half of the draw, the American "Dream Team" of Randy Snow and Brad Parks were cleaning up. Never having played together before, the vast experience of both players combined well, defeating the German team of Schrameyer and Stefan Bitterauf 7-5 6-0 in the semifinal.
The final between the number one and two seeds - USA and France, lasted three hours and epitomised the variety and excitement of wheelchair tennis doubles. Caillier and Giammartini tried everything to counteract the American onslaught and eventually managed to take the second set tie-break 9-7. Caillier in particular was under tremendous pressure with the American pair hitting to his side of the court at every opportunity. Eventually their tactics paid off with Snow and Parks taking home gold for the USA 6-4 6-7(7) 6-3.
The women's draw was a little more predictable. With only six doubles teams, the Dutch women were always expected to dominate and true to form they reached the final without even dropping a set. They went on to take gold from the US pair of Nancy Olson and Lynn Seidemann 6-2 6-3.
All the participants agreed on one thing: at the time, this was the best wheelchair tennis event ever held. The organisation was perfect; full crews of umpires, linesmen and ball boys for every match, computer analyses of every match, packed stadiums of enthusiastic spectators and a level of play that had never been seen before in international competition. All these things helped to make the whole event an unforgettable experience.
"When I was standing on the podium, I felt like a window had opened to my soul and for a moment, every positive emotion I had ever felt flowed through it… I cried."
Randy Snow after winning gold in Barcelona 1992.
"After the successful completion of the1992 Paralympics held in Barcelona, let me say that I have never been more proud than to have been a part of such a historical experience. There were 48 players from 15 different countries representing wheelchair tennis. To have witnessed how far wheelchair tennis has come was truly amazing. When I look back to when wheelchair tennis was just beginning, I never dreamed we would be where we are today.
The Paralympics is just an example of what we can accomplish by working together for the sport of wheelchair tennis. My thanks to all who have been instrumental in getting more people involved."
Brad Parks, speaking after the completion of the 1992 Paralympic Games
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