Article 25 Aug 2021

Tokyo 2020 draw: Bye for Kunieda, Cabrillana up first for De Groot

Michael Beattie

25 Aug 2021

World No. 1 and three-time Paralympic gold medallist Shingo Kunieda will face either Stefanos Diamantis of Greece or Slovakia’s Marek Gergely in his opening match at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, while women’s world No. 1 Diede De Groot will open her campaign against Chile’s Macarena Cabrillana.

The Paralympic Tennis Event draws took place on Wednesday, the morning after the Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony that featured prominent roles for both Kunieda and compatriot Yui Kamiji, the women’s world No. 2 and Rio 2016 singles bronze medallist.

Kamiji, one of three Japanese athletes to light the Paralympic Cauldron at the ceremony, will also face South American opposition in Argentina’s Maria Florencia Moreno in the first round of the 32-player women’s singles draw.

Aniek van Koot, the No. 3 seed, will take on Germany's Katharina Kruger in the first round, while British No. 4 seed Jordanne Whiley faces Colombia's Angelica Bernal and Kgothatso Montjane, who carried the South African flag in the Opening Ceremony, opens against Japan's Saki Takamuro.

Like Kunieda, the remaining top eight men's singles seeds have each received byes to the second round of the 56-player draw. No. 2 seed Alfie Hewett awaits either Kamil Fabisiak of Poland or Thailand's Suthi Khlongrua, while fellow Briton and Rio 2016 champion Gordon Reid will face either Leon Els of South Africa or Brazil's Gustavo Carneiro Silva.

Joachim Gerard, the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, will be up against one of American Casey Ratzlaff or France's Frederic Cattaneo, while former world No. 1 Gustavo Fernandez's bid for a first Paralympic medal begins against either Banjob Suwan of Thailand or Spaniard Francesc Tur.

In the men's doubles, top seeds Hewett and Reid have been drawn in the same half as Kunieda and Takashi Sanada, the No. 3 seeds, while defending champions and No. 2 seeds Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer are in the same half as Dutch duo Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers and Argentines Fernandez and Agustin Ledesma. Nine teams among the 23-pair field have received byes, with Frenchmen Cattaneo and Gaetan Menguy the lucky unseeded duo to advance straight to the second round.

In the 16-strong quad singles event, Rio 2016 gold medallist and world No. 1 Dylan Alcott will face Japan’s Mitsuteru Moroishi in the first round, while Dutch No. 2 seed Sam Schroder takes on Israel’s Yosl Saadon and Great Britain's Andy Lapthorne, the No. 3 seed, will open against Robert Shaw of Canada for a potential quarter-final clash with Dutchman Niels Vink.

David Wagner, the three-time Paralympic champion and eight-time medallist, opens his singles campaign against Ymanitu Silva of Brazil, while in the doubles the American and partner Bryan Barten are up against No. 2 seeds Schroder and Vink. Alcott and Heath Davidson, the Rio 2016 champions, received the only bye in the seven-team draw.