When Australia’s Ben Weekes takes to the court on Sunday to face world No. 1 Shingo Kunieda on the opening day of wheelchair tennis action at the Australian Open, it will be 20 years since he first contested an Australian Open Wheelchair Championships at Melbourne Park.

His is a journey that helps explain the evolution of both the sport and his country’s premier tournament, to the platform it has today. And the sport’s evolution is one that Weekes is also actively playing a part in shaping, having recently started his second term on the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Player Council.

“I do remember those first few years, getting to play on the courts at Melbourne Park. I remember how lucky I felt to get to play there and have the support of the Aussie crowd,” said Weekes, who had played tennis as a boy before being impacted by a blood clot at the age of 13. A physio suggested he try wheelchair tennis. 

“I think that is when you got the feeling that this sport was going somewhere. The tournament was so supportive, and the first Slam to include wheelchair tennis and bring it to where it is today,” he added, while also reflecting on being inspired by watching Australian wheelchair tennis legend David Hall win men’s singles gold at the Sydney 2000 Paralympics.

Back in 2001, the Australian Open had Championship Series 1 status on the Wheelchair Tennis Tour and took place more than a week after the Grand Slam. A year later, the sport debuted on the Grand Slam stage, with an event called the ‘Wheelchair Classic 8s at the Australian Open’, featuring eight of the world’s top men’s players and eight of the world’s top women’s players.

The Australian Open Wheelchair Championships remained a separate fixture on the calendar until 2006, with Weekes having the opportunity to play the Classic 8s for the first time in 2005, beating fellow Aussie Anthony Bonaccurso to reach the semi-finals.

The next evolution took place in 2007 and 2008, when the closing stages of the Australian Open Wheelchair Championships took place at Melbourne Park during the Grand Slam event. Then, in 2009, Grand Slam ranking status was introduced on the Tour and the Australian Open was fully integrated into the Grand Slam tournament schedule.

“I feel so proud of the history we have had in the sport,” said Weekes. “Growing up in the wheelchair tennis community I got to hang out and tour with some of the great all-time players, including Hally, Danni di Toro, Dave Johnson, Anthony Bonaccurso and Branka Pupovac. They all looked out for me when I was on the road and were always willing to train with me back at home, too.

“Without their encouragement I would have given up a long time ago, because back in the day things didn't come as easily,” he adds. “You really had to work for it, normally with one or two side jobs to keep you going and create your own path to make things happen. I'm so grateful to all the people who stepped in to give me a hand along the way.”

With Weekes often receiving the men’s singles wild card for the Australian Open over the last 13 years after having won a wild card play-off match or the Australian national title, he had to wait 10 years before what is, understandably his pick of his Australia Open memories.

“My favourite Aussie Open memory so far was making the doubles final in 2019 with Stephane Houdet. My parents came down to watch me there for the first time and it was great to do it there in front of them,” he reflects.

Weekes played his 20^th Australian Open Wheelchair Championships in 2020 before the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic took hold. This year’s Australian Open wheelchair event is set to take place without fans due to the latest lockdown announced on Friday by the Victorian Government.

“Here in Australia we have had some pretty tough lockdowns at various times, which has helped us to where we have had a lot more freedom,” says Sydneysider Weekes, whose travel from New South Wales to Victoria was planned around the necessary internal government state restrictions.

“My training and work was not impacted too heavily, there were just a couple of weeks here and there where we had to get creative. I got to spend more time with my family which has been great,” he adds. “I also got me a one-man canoe to take out paddling in the ocean, which has been a nice escape, a safe thing to do and helped me conquer my fear of sharks.

“A lot of people have been suffering a lot over the year, losing lives, losing jobs, not being able to see loved ones, and so many people have worked so incredibly hard behind the scenes so that I can hit a little yellow ball around a court,” adds Weekes, who has combined his tennis career with working part-time for Australian broadcast network ABC for the last 11 years.

“So I just do what I need to do and be thankful that I can have this opportunity to play another Australian Open.”

With tennis tours and much of international sport suspended for most of 2020, Weekes has continued to play an active role in the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Player Council, to which he was first elected when it was set up in 2018. He has recently started his second term as part the recently elected new Council.

“We have quietly been working behind the scenes to make sure that a player perspective gets added to the decisions for our sport,” he says. “I have really enjoyed being a part of it and I think we have made good progress at establishing a better communication between the players and the decision-makers.

“It’s not always easy when there are a lot of different viewpoints, but it has definitely given an appreciation to all the different ideas players have across different regions and different levels. Each region has a player representation, so it’s really important that players engage with their regional rep to help impact topical discussions.”