Egberink hoping to catch a break at Tokyo 2020

When hearing players recount their 'painful' defeats, spare a thought for Netherlands’ Tom Egberink, who played at the Rio 2016 Paralympics with a broken bone in his racket hand.

“I was really looking forward to the Games in Rio,” the 28-year-old recalls. “The week before the tournament, in Canada, in a match against [Takuya] Miki, I broke my thumb. I had to go to the hospital in Canada, and two days later I flew to Brazil.”

Egberink refused to give up on his dream of competing in a second Paralympic Games - and despite the injury, won his opening doubles match with compatriot Maikel Scheffers before falling in the quarter-finals in three sets against Japan’s Takashi Sanada and… Takuya Miki.

But the men's wheelchair world No. 8 bears no ill will to his unfortunate circumstances of five years ago – quite the opposite. Given the grit and determination he displayed to prove himself despite the injury, his Rio 2016 campaign stands among his proudest memories of his career.

“I played with a lot of pain, but I went for it, because you’ve worked for four years for it,” he explained. “It was really strange, yeah, but to get motivated and stay motivated, it was one of the best ones for me to continue playing.”

Five years on, Egberink is itching to get to Tokyo and make amends. The former Wimbledon doubles champion, has designs on going beyond his third-round singles runs at both London 2012 and Rio 2016.

And with his doubles ranking closing in on his career-high of No. 5 this season, going one round further than his doubles quarter-final appearances at the last two Games would put him and Scheffers among the medal matches this time around.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Egberink said. “It’s been a long time now, because we’ve had an extra year, but I think it’s going to be good. I can’t wait to play there.

“You’re competing at the best level there is. The best players in the world will be there – you see each other a lot of times on tour, but at the Paralympics, especially in the village with all the other athletes, it’s wonderful to be there.

“Playing for your country is one of the best things that exists. Playing with the flags on, and everybody watching at home supporting you, and playing against other countries – especially in doubles – it gives you a lot of energy as well.

“I want to do my best and to play my best tennis – I always do in Asia. To get to the podium, I will give my all, I’ll fight really, really hard.”

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic wheelchair tennis event starts on Friday 27 August (with the Opening Ceremony of the Games kicking off on Tuesday 24 August). The medal matches are due to take place on 1-4 September.

Click here for more information about the Paralympic schedule.