Time has come for Kunieda to realise his Tokyo 2020 dream
“I still can’t imagine how that will feel,” Shingo Kunieda said in the lead-up to Tokyo 2020. This is his fifth appearance at the Paralympic Games, but of course this one is different: this one is on home soil.
“I have played at four Paralympic Games since Athens 2004, but this is the first time I will experience it in my home country,” the 37-year-old said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
The time has come. Kunieda, the men’s singles world No. 1 and record 45-time Grand Slam champion launches his bid for a third singles gold medal against Slovakia’s Marek Gergely on Saturday. But it is the other gold medal in his trophy cabinet that he credits for making this moment possible.
The singles victories at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 may read higher on his honour roll, Kunieda’s doubles gold medal, won in Athens with compatriot Satoshi Saida, is the Paralympic memory closest to his heart.
“At that point, I was thinking of retiring after those Paralympics,” Kunieda recalls of events 17 years ago. “It costs a large amount of money to play tennis and I didn’t want to be a burden on my parents anymore, so I made my mind to end my career in Athens. Since I got the gold medal in doubles, I had another option as such to continue playing as a pro.”
It was a seminal moment in a record-breaking career. By the time he reached Beijing four years later, he had swept the five consecutive Grand Slams of 2007 and 2008, carrying that momentum to the top step of the singles podium and winning bronze in the doubles.
A second singles gold followed in 2012, cementing his status as the front-runner for a third in Rio four years later – plans scuppered by a persistent elbow injury that left his career in jeopardy. To this day, he finds pictures from the 2016 Paralympics painful to look at, despite winning a second doubles bronze with Saida in Brazil.
But after a second elbow surgery and an overhaul of his backhand technique to ease pressure on the joint, Kunieda fought back to winning ways, going on to eclipse one of the most impressive records in sport, surpassing the great Esther Vergeer’s tally of 44 Grand Slam singles and doubles titles with his 45th crown at last year’s US Open.
All the while, the Paralympics have loomed on the horizon, by then already delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And now they are here – and Kunieda is already a part of the story of Tokyo 2020 after being selected to deliver the Paralympic athlete oath at the Opening Ceremony.
“Though the Grand Slams are the biggest tournaments in tennis, I believe the Paralympics are as great as them,” Kunieda said. “Winning gold medals in Athens, Beijing and London has changed my life. Another gold in Tokyo would be massive.”