For many an elite athlete, a Paralympic or Olympic medal is the ultimate dream – the reward for years of dedication and hard work. For some it is a target that is never achieved, regardless of the amount of success that’s enjoyed outside of the Games. And while the mere fact of earning the status of Paralympian or Olympian is reward enough for some, for others there are lingering emotions of what might have been. 

The latter is certainly true for Britain’s 12-time Grand Slam champion and two-time Paralympic doubles bronze medallist Jordanne Whiley, so much so that a Paralympic gold medal was the one of two motivations for the 28-year-old in deciding to return to competitive wheelchair tennis after giving birth to son Jackson in January 2018. 

“A Paralympic singles gold and another singles Slam – that was my only real motivation,” Whiley declares. “I felt I like I had done all I needed to do in doubles. I’ve been world No. 1, I’ve won 11 Grand Slams – well, at the time it was nine doubles Grand Slams – and so I didn’t feel there was much more I could do in doubles. I came back so my singles game could reach its potential as I didn’t feel it had.” 

Whiley made her Paralympic debut as a 16-year-old in Beijing in 2008 and, by her own admission, went into Rio 2016 as ‘one of the favourites’ for a singles medal, after winning the 2015 US Open and the 2015 and 2016 British Open titles.  

“At that point, I was beating Yui (Kamiji) and had beaten Aniek (van Koot) and Jiske (Griffioen), so I was basically beating everyone and was in a really good place. I definitely felt I was in the form to beat Diede (de Groot) at that stage and had beaten her previously,” adds Whiley as she reflects on her draw in Rio.  

However, a stress fracture to her wrist was to effectively end Whiley’s dreams of a place on the singles podium as she struggled in vain in her quarter-final against De Groot, despite then going on to win a second successive doubles bronze medal partnering Lucy Shuker. 

”I have often said that Rio was like a bad break up because it probably took me about a year to process it and accept what had happened. At that point, I knew I needed to take a break from tennis.”  

Becoming a mum gave Whiley that break and since returning to international competition in early 2019 she has gone from strength-to-strength and currently sits just one place shy of the career-best No.3 singles world ranking she achieved in the summer of 2016. 

“I think I’d be a mess to be honest,” says Whiley as she considers what it would mean to finish on top of the podium on her Paralympic swansong in Tokyo. “I have done three Paralympic Games and gold is the only thing I don’t have in my trophy cabinet. It would literally complete my career and my life.” 

For sure it would have a very special place in my heart

Rio evokes emotions of a different kind for Gustavo Fernandez after he was selected to carry the Argentinian flag at the opening ceremony of the first Paralympics to be held in South America. 

“Being the flag bearer for Argentina was one of the most deep and strong feelings I have every lived in my career,” says the three-time Parapan American Games singles gold medallist. “It combined a lot of things – sport, family, team … all the hard work. It combined everything. It was such a special place, being in the Americas. I have certain pictures in my head of that time. It was a very special feeling and I always see that moment as being one of the biggest moments of my career.” 

Fernandez reached a second successive Paralympic men’s singles quarter-final in 2016, losing out to eventual gold medallist Gordon Reid after losing to eventual silver medallist Stephane Houdet in London four years earlier. 

“Paralympic medals have been an objective since I learnt wheelchair tennis so, for me, it’s something very, very important and it would be an amazing dream to achieve that,” says five-time Grand Slam singles champion Fernandez. 

“I don’t know if it would mean more or less than a Grand Slam because it was very emotional for me to achieve those things and to reach world No.1. But for sure it would have a special place in my heart,” adds the two-time ITF World Champion, who became the first Latin American player to achieve that particular accolade in 2017. 

While Fernandez still recalls the vivid memories of carrying his country’s flag in Rio, the mental work he does as an integral part of his training and preparation also includes visualising being on the podium in Tokyo.  

“We work in more specific things than psychology,“ says the 27-year-old, as he speaks of the ‘mental coach’ that has helped him to some of his most recent major successes, including the first three Grand Slam singles titles of 2019. 

“But I always visualise me winning, I always do that. I cannot control the fact of me winning or losing but I can control the fact of believing in myself and what I can do and what I will try to do. I always visualise myself in the best position, with the hardest conditions and being able to manage everything.” 

But whatever happens in Tokyo, Fernandez hopes it will be the catalyst for more to come in Paris in 2024. Along with many of his countrymen, he has a natural affinity to clay. 

“Of course I am looking forward to Paris and the Paralympic event on clay,” says the two-time Roland Garros champion. “I always love clay and I think I perform well there (at Roland Garros). I plan to stay in wheelchair tennis for a very, very long time and Paris will be another key moment for me in my career.” 

It would mean the world in terms of realising my dream 

The one Grand Slam singles title that Fernandez has yet to win is the US Open, but that box is already ticked for Sam Schroder, who is on course to make his Paralympic debut in Tokyo. 

At 21, Schroder’s journey may not have been as long as that of Whiley or Fernandez, but he has still been playing wheelchair tennis for a decade and four years ago any dreams of one day fighting for a Paralympic medal were replaced by the reality of fighting for his life after he was diagnosed with colon cancer. 

“Tennis was definitely still on my mind when I was diagnosed” he says. “One of the first things we talked about with the doctors was how we were going to make sure that I was still going to be able to play tennis after I was done with the treatment and after I had my ostomy. I kept believing that I was going to be able to come back and the whole cancer story has really given me a lot of confidence on the court, mentally especially.” 

Schroder received news of the diagnosis on the very same day that he booked his flight to England for what should have been his Singles Masters debut. That he had reached the Top 8 in the quad singles ranking by then tells a story of exceptional talent and potential. Some 18 months earlier a 16-year-old Schroder had been world ranked No.25 when the ranking qualification window for Rio closed.  

“But at that time I realised I could actually have a shot at this (the Paralympics) and that in four years’ time I would hopefully by then have progressed enough to compete,” he recalls. “In the last two years and given everything that I have achieved, it has given me the confidence that I could be able to go home with a medal.” 

The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic mean that Schroder has had five years to work towards his Paralympic debut. He is set to go to Tokyo on the back of winning his maiden Grand Slam in New York, beating no less than Rio 2016 quad singles gold medallist Dylan Alcott to do so. What would it mean to finish on top of the podium in Tokyo?      

”It would mean the world for me in terms of realising my goal, my dream that I’ve worked for all these years,” says Schroder. “When I first got into wheelchair tennis I didn’t immediately have a goal of being a Paralympian but you play some tournaments and start playing internationally and eventually this goal came about.” 

Schroder is sure to be able to take inspiration from his experience in New York, not just from winning the title, but also from the fact of playing his first Grand Slam in such unprecedented global circumstances. 

“It was my first Grand Slam, so there were a lot of new things and a lot of different experiences that I hadn’t had before,” says the world No.3. “Of course, the first round-robin match against Dylan was tough, but I learnt from it and in the final I was able to keep going after the second set and keep believing. In the end I pulled through and I hope to be able to do the same in Tokyo.  

“In Tokyo I hope there will be some local spectators that can come. At the US Open it was a bit weird being in a really big stadium where normally there would be maybe 10,000 people, but then there were just a couple of people. It took some time to get used to, but it’s definitely an experience I can take with me to Tokyo if the same scenario presents itself again.”