Paris 2024 Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event: 100 days to go
Talk of the Paralympic Games is everywhere – and no wonder. While the countdown continues, today marks 100 days to go to the start of the Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event at Paris 2024.
The clay courts of Roland Garros will play host to the next chapter of wheelchair tennis at the Paralympics as the finest exponents of their craft gather in the French capital, primed to showcase their talent on the biggest of stages.
It is a journey which began with a wheelchair tennis exhibition at the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul, but from relatively humble beginnings has grown a Paralympic sport that entertains, captivates and inspires.
Never before has a Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event been held at a Grand Slam venue, while it will be only the second held on clay. For the competitors who will compete on the famous Roland Garros courts, a gold rush awaits.
At the mere mention of the Paralympics, memories of magical moments from years gone by come flooding back, as do recollections from three years ago.
Who can forget Shingo Kunieda magically topping the podium in Tokyo – the city of his birth – and becoming the first player to medal at five successive Paralympics? Dylan Alcott gloriously ending his Paralympic career with gold?
Triumphing at Tokyo 2020 – which was delayed a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic – also gave the imperious Diede de Groot the chance to seal a Golden Slam and she duly obliged by winning her fourth Grand Slam of the season at the US Open.
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The Paralympics have produced some stunning moments since their inception and there are a host of stories waiting to be written at this year’s Games where heroes and heroines will emerge to realise their dreams and those of others.
Insatiable in her pursuit of titles, De Groot will no doubt have her sights set on defending her Paralympic crown and indeed maintaining the dominance of Dutch women in Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis.
Remarkably, Netherlands have produced every women’s gold medallist in singles and doubles since wheelchair tennis was introduced as a medal sport at the 1992 Paralympic Games in Barcelona.
The most successful wheelchair tennis Paralympian of all, Esther Vergeer, underscores a considerable portion of that dominance having chalked up seven gold medals – four in singles and three in doubles.
De Groot saw her 145-match winning streak ended by Xiaohui Li of China, P.R. at the BNP Paribas World Team Cup earlier this month but, despite this unexpected setback, she remains a fearsome opponent.
To mark 100 days to go to the start of the Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event, the ITF has released a video during which Vergeer talks up the game-changing qualities of compatriot De Groot.
Game-changing is also an appropriate adjective to describe the Paralympic Games and this year's extravaganza really does promise to be a spectacular affair. Roll on Paris 2024!
The start of the Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event, which gets underway on 30 August and runs until 7 September, cannot come soon enough.