Wheelchair Tennis Paralympics 2024 in Paris

Did you see what the Google search page had to offer yesterday and today? The latest Google Doodle showed two birds – one brown and one blue – playing tennis in wheelchairs in the Jardin des Tuileries in France. And these birds were quite animated, literally. This cartoon showed the birds hitting the ball back and forth with their rackets and was reminiscent of the wheelchair tennis tournament currently taking place at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.

Wheelchair tennis is one of the fastest growing wheelchair sports in the world. Over the past five decades since it first became an official sport, wheelchair tennis and its continued popularity have shown that tennis is not just for the little ones. Nor is it just for those with certain abilities. It has become an increasingly inclusive sport, accessible to people of different ages, conditions and life situations.

All of this has inspired many people around the world, so it's fitting that the Google Doodle page places the following caption under the animation: “Great attitude and excellent serves. Wheelchair tennis starts today at Stade Roland-Garros!” And you don't have to pass a tennis quiz to know that the Roland-Garros stadium and its famous red clay courts are the annual host venue for the French Open. It will host the wheelchair tennis competitions of the 2024 Summer Paralympics until September 7.

The events will take place on the same courts as the 2024 French Open last spring, with no significant change in the size of the courts. Players will also use the same rackets and tennis balls. The net in the middle of each court is 0.914 meters, or three feet, high at the center. And players will be seated in wheelchairs.

The only significant rule difference, however, is the “two bounce rule.” Unlike traditional tennis, where a player must return the ball over the net before it bounces twice on their side, in wheelchair tennis a player can bounce the ball up to two times. The extra bounce allowed reflects the fact that maneuvering the wheelchairs so skillfully around the court is no small feat.

There are a number of different singles and doubles draws in tennis for men and women at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. In addition to the open draws for people with permanent lower limb impairments, there are quad draws for people who also have upper limb impairments that limit their ability to maneuver the racket and wheelchair.

In September 2022, I have Forbes the 2022 US Open in wheelchair tennis and how the sport essentially started after American Brad Parks was paralyzed from the waist down after a skiing accident in 1976. Parks and Jeff Minnebraker fought hard to get the sport off the ground, and for a time battled obstacles like inertia and other things that can stop people from doing innovative things. Eventually, though, the sport hit a number of home runs and Grand Slams – all four, actually. The sport has become a staple of the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon Championships and US Open. And the International Tennis Federation's wheelchair tennis tour has grown to include more than 150 events.

The sport has also become a staple of the Paralympics. In fact, France was the first European country to introduce an official wheelchair tennis program in the 1980s. At the beginning of the following decade, in 1992, the sport made its Paralympic debut in another European country, Spain, in Barcelona. Since then, the Paralympic wheelchair tennis field has grown ever larger.

This year's edition of the Paralympics wheelchair tennis features a star-studded field. Headlining the men's open singles event are Alfie Hewett of Great Britain, Martin De La Puente of Spain, Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina and Todiko Oda of Japan. Oda is the designated successor in Japan to the legendary Shingo Kunieda, who is a constant in conversations about who is the GOAT – the greatest of all time – in wheelchair tennis.

Speaking of GOATs, the Women's Open Singles draw today (September 3) saw Dutchwoman Diede de Groot advance to the semifinals with a straight-set win over China's Luoyao Gao. This wasn't a huge surprise, as de Groot has pretty much dominated the sport in recent years. She's achieved a Grand Slam – that is, all four Grand Slam titles in one year – and she's done so not once, not twice, but three times from 2021 to 2023. Every time de Groot competes in a major tournament, she can extend her GOAT qualities, which is worth watching.

So if you're looking for a sport that's not only fun but also inspiring, you should give wheelchair tennis a try if you haven't already. The sport has much of the strategy and movement that's common to all forms of tennis, but it also features athletes who have overcome adversity and can move their wheelchairs in ways you may never have seen before.