The Paralympics 2024 is running successfully full of action and fun. One of the highlights of the program is wheelchair tennis.
Watchers may witness the newest wheelchair tennis action from the 2024 Paralympics by tuning into Peacock at 3 a.m. on Friday, September 6, and at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 7. While the Paralympic Games are taking place, which end on Sunday, September 8, viewers may continue to watch coverage on USA Network, CNBC, and NBC in addition to Peacock.
RULES OF WHEELCHAIR TENNIS
Two bounces of the ball are permitted in wheelchair tennis. The first bounce must lie on the court, and the second must lie beyond the court’s boundary.
When serving, the server is allowed to make one push to a wheelchair.
In wheelchair tennis matches, sets are decided by tiebreaks when necessary. The format is best-of-three sets.
A tiebreak decides each set in a match, and matches consist of the best of three sets.
Wheelchair tennis is played in three categories: men’s, women’s, and quad divisions.
Players with impairments up to two limbs play in the men’s/ women‘s division.
If impairment exists up to three limbs, they play in the mixed-sex quad division.
The following impairments are eligible: leg length difference, limb deficiency, athetosis, ataxia, hypertonia, impaired muscle power, and impaired passive range of motion.
IS WHEELCHAIR TENNIS EXCLUSIVE TO MANUAL WHEELCHAIR?
Wheelchair tennis may be best appreciated for this reason. It is possible to play it not only with people who are not wheelchair users but also in manual or motorized wheelchairs. Without changing the regulations, you can choose to play wheelchair tennis with any of your friends or family members.
WHEN IS A POINT LOST
The player does not return the ball before it touches the ground three times; or
Propelling the chair is subject to the following rule: When serving, stroking a ball, turning, or stopping against the ground or any wheel while the ball is in play, the player employs any part of his feet or lower extremities as brakes stabilizers; or
When the player makes contact with the ball, he does not maintain one buttock in contact with his wheelchair seat.
HISTORY OF WHEEL CHAIR TENNIS
US freestyle skier Brad Parks innovated wheelchair tennis in 1976. In his wheelchair, Parks began hitting tennis balls after suffering injuries from an accident while in rehabilitation.Growing in popularity in the 1980s, the sport was added as an official medal event for Barcelona in 1992. Quad singles and doubles events were started in Athens in 2004.
WHEELCHAIR TENNIS IN PARALYMPICS 2024
Wheelchair tennis will be showcasing six medal events, taking place from 30 August to September.
The following events will be held:
Men’s Singles 48 Players
Men’s Doubles Maximum of 24 Teams
Women’s Singles 32 Players
Women’s Doubles Maximum of 16 Teams
Quad Singles 16 Players
Quad Doubles Maximum of 8 Teams
There will be 95 athletes competing in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event, representing 28 countries.
The venue for the Paralympic wheelchair tennis event is Roland Garros. There are 10 match courts and 6 practice courts.
FAMOUS PLAYERS OF WHEELCHAIR TENNIS
|
MEN’S DOUBLES |
WOMEN’S DOUBLES |
QUAD DOUBLES |
Alfie Hewett(Great Britain) |
Kgothatso Montjane (South Africa) |
Niels Vink (Netherlands) |
Gordon Reid (Great Britain) |
Yui Kamiji (Japan) |
Sam Schroder (Netherlands) |
Tokito Oda (Japan) |
Diede De Groot (Netherlands) |
Andy Lapthorne (Great Britain) |
Takuya Miki (Japan) |
Aniek Van Koot (Netherlands) |
Guy Sasson (Israel) |
Stephane Houdet (France) |
Jiske Griffioen (Netherlands) |
David Wagner (United States) |
In total, 17 former Paralympic medalists are competing in Paris 2024.
Seven in the men’s events (Frederic Cattaneo, Tom Egberink, Joachim Gerard, Alfie Hewett, Stephane Houdet, Gordon Reid, and Maikel Scheffers)
Six in the women’s events (Diede de Groot, Yui Kamiji, Sakhorn Khanthasit, Momoko Ohtani, Lucy Shuker, and Aniek van Koot)
Four in the quad events (Andy Lapthorne, Sam Schroder, Niels Vink, and David Wagner)
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PARALYMPICS 2024
DAY 6
Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reidgot into the semi-finals with a straight-sets victory by defeating the Netherlands Ruben Spaargaren and Maarten Ter Hofte 6-2, 6-1.
DAY 5
Alfie Hewett reached the quarterfinals after a victory of 7-5, 6-2 over world No.16, Japan’s Daisuke Arai.
Gordon Reid overcame Takuya Miki of Japan 6-1, 6-1 to earn his first victory of the game.
Lucy Shuker lost the game by 6-0, 6-2 to Xiaohui Li of China.
Andy Lapthorne and Greg Slade’s journey ended in the Paralympics after their respective defeats in the quad-singles quarterfinals.
Andy Lapthorne’s dreams of winning a gold medal were dashed by Ahmet Kaplan of Turkey, who defeated him 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the quad singles quarterfinals.
Moreover, Slade lost 6-1, 6-2 to the defending Roland Garros champion, preventing him from advancing to the quad semi-finals.
DAY 4
Singles
Hewett entered the third round after his 6-0, 6-1 win over Israel’s Sergei Lysov.
Reid won the match with a dominant score of 6-0 over Suresh Dharmasena in the men’s wheelchair second round.
Bartram lost by 6-2, 7-6(4) to Tokito Oda of Japan, a four-time Grand Slam champion.
Ward lost by 6-2, 6-1 to the seventh seed and home favorite, Stephane Houdet.
Doubles
Hewett and Reid beat Alexander Cataldo and Brayan Tapia by 6-1, 6-3 in the men’s wheelchair doubles quarterfinals.
The top players will play the winner of the match between Argentina’s Ezequiel Casco and Gustavo Fernandez and the Netherlands’s Ruben Spaargaren and Maarten Ter Hofte.
However, Bartram and Ward’s journey ended when they were defeated 6-2, 7-5 by Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers, the bronze medalists from Tokyo 2020.
Quads
The world No. 3 Lapthorne and world No. 13 Slade quad doubles defeated Leandro Pena and Ymanitu Silva of Brazil 6-1, 7-5, to secure a silver medal.
DAY 3
Lapthorne beat Diego Perez 6-4, 6-3 in twists and turns.
Slade defeated Turkey’s Ugur Altinel 6-7(6), 7-6(1), 6-1 in a gripping encounter lasting two hours and 45 minutes.
Shuker defeated Charlotte Fairbank 6-4, 7-5 to win her fifth Paralympic first-round match.
Abbie Breakwell lost out on her debut to 17-year-old American Maylee Phelps by 6-3, 6-4.
Ben Bartram and Dahnon Ward defeated Lhaj Boukartacha and Said Himam 6-3, 3-6, 10-5.
DAY 2
Bartram defeated Frenchman Guilhelm Laget in what would come to be a thrilling 6-4 victory.
Ward secured an opening-round victory on his Paralympic debut after his 6-3, 7-6(7) victory over Morocco’s Said Himam.
Three-time Paralympic medalist Shuker and debutant Breakwell became the first British Paralympic tennis players to give a 6-2, 6-4 defeat to the Netherlands’ Lizzy De Greef and Jinte Bos.
