Wheelchair Tennis

112 athletes compete for 6 gold medal places

Wheelchair tennis is one of the only Paralympic sports actually developed by accident. In the 1970s, a freestyle skier from the USA who had become injured developed the game of wheelchair tennis alongside his coach as an alternative sport. Since the 1970s the sport has gained considerable support, with the International Tennis Federation formally recognising the sport in 1998. Despite this relatively late recognition, the game has been played on an international level since the 1980s.

There are multiple different wheelchair tennis classes broken down into six categories: women's singles, women's doubles, men's singles, men's doubles, quads singles and quads doubles.

Wheelchair tennis is played broadly on the same rules as standard tennis with the exception of the fact that the ball is now allowed to bounce twice. The second bounce can even happen outside the court. All matches are played over three sets.