Monique Kalkman at a wheelchair tenis clinic held during the 2011 Invacare Doubles Masters
The ITF has announced that Monique Kalkman of the Netherlands is the recipient of the Brad Parks Award for 2012.
Kalkman was the first Paralympic women’s singles gold medallist for wheelchair tennis when the sport achieved full medal status at the 1992 Barcelona Games. Kalkman also won the women’s doubles in Barcelona with Chantal Vandierendonck, the player she beat in the women’s singles final and the woman she finished runner-up to in 1998 when wheelchair tennis was a demonstration sport at the Seoul Paralympics.
Kalkman was a silver medallist in the women’s singles in 1996 in Atlanta, where she and Vandierendonck won the women’s doubles gold medal for the second successive Games.
Outside of the Paralympic Games, Kalkman was also the inaugural NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters Champion, winning the first of two successive titles in 1994, and was ITF World Champion four years in a row from 1992 to 1995.
The Brad Parks Award is presented annually to an individual or organisation that has made a significant contribution to wheelchair tennis on an international basis. Usually this contribution will be over several years. Kalkman has made an invaluable contribution to the sport over the last 22 years and has continued to actively promote wheelchair tennis since retiring as a player for health reasons, including assisting with wheelchair tennis camps.
In 2010 Kalkman was one of six Wheelchair Tennis Ambassadors, along with wheelchair tennis founder Brad Parks, appointed by the ITF. Kalkman will receive the Brad Parks Award from Parks himself during the Draw Ceremony for the London 2012 Paralympic Tennis Event on 30 August at Eton Manor in the Olympic Park.