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Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Medal Stand: The Best of Tennis at the Paralympics


While the U.S. Open is taking place in New York, the wheelchair tennis athletes will be in Paris (at Roland Garros) competing for Gold, Silver and Bronze in the Paralympic Games.





A look at the highlights of the eight previous official tennis competitions held since 1992.






Over the course of her history in the Paralympics, Dutch wheelchair tennis legend Esther Vergeer did what she did pretty much everywhere during her career: win just about everything. In all, she won more medals (8) and more Golds (7) than any other tennis player in the Games' history, sweeping the singles and doubles three times (2000, '04 and '12).



Vergeer lost just one match in her Paralympic career, in the '08 Beijing Gold doubles match (w/ Jiske Griffioen) vs. another all-Dutch duo, Korie Homan & Sharon Walraven.

Vergeer's final competition was at the '12 Games in London, as she retired in early 2013 as arguably (or maybe not) the most dominant athlete in any sport ever, ending her career on a 470-match singles winning streak.

A decade later (too *much* later, actually), the greatest there ever was was *finally* enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport in 2023.
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In 2021, Diede de Groot became wheelchair tennis' first "Golden Slam" winner. Already the unquestioned top women's wheelchair player in the world, with a career path seemingly set to surpass many of mentor Esther Vergeer's astounding records, the Dutch star added multiple chapters to her growing legend that summer.



In Tokyo, de Groot became the third different Dutch woman to sweep the singles/doubles Paralympic competitions (after Esther Vergeer and Jiske Griffioen), earning the first Gold medals of her career. A week later, the Dutch star also swept both competitions at the U.S. Open (in the first year in which both events were held in the same season, due to the 2020 games being cancelled and rescheduled due to the Covid-19 pandemic). Her singles win completed the maiden singles "Golden Slam" in WC tennis history.

Only Steffi Graf has accomplished the feat in tennis during an Olympic year (in 1988).



After de Groot's accomplishment, Aussie Dylan Alcott matched her in New York by completed a Golden Slam of his own in the Quad singles event.



Alcott topped her in the celebration department, though.



Alcott won Gold and Silver in Paralympic basketball in 2008 and 2012 for Australia, as well.
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In 2012 in London, Japan's Shingo Kunieda defended his '08 Beijing Gold to become the only back-to-back men's wheelchair singles champion in Paralympics history.



Nine years later, in the 2021 Paralympics (held in his home nation in Tokyo), Kunieda won a *third* singles Gold.

Having also won Gold in '04 in the men's doubles, he won six total Paralympic medals (w/ 2 Bronze in doubles).

Kunieda retired in January 2023 just before his 39th birthday, having won more major titles (50 - 28s/22d) than any other WC tennis player, male or female.


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Dutch world #1 Jiske Griffioen swept the singles and doubles at the Rio Paralympics in 2016, replicating countrywoman Vergeer's three-time feat (even defeating the same woman -- another Netherlands-born star, Aniek van Koot -- that Vergeer did in the '12 singles final). Griffioen had won the '12 singles Bronze in London, having lost to Vergeer in the semis.



Three of the four women's singles semifinalists hailed from the Netherlands.
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In the inaugural Paralympics wheelchair tennis competition in 1992 in Barcelona, the Netherlands' Monique van den Bosch and the U.S.'s Randy Snow both swept the singles and doubles Golds in their respective competitions.



Beginning what would be a tradition in Paralympic women's tennis, it was an all-Dutch final as van den Bosch defeated countrywoman Chantal Vandierendonck, then the two joined forces to win the doubles. The now-married Kalkman-van den Bosch would repeat with Vandierendonck as doubles champion in '96 in Atlanta, and pick up Silver in singles. She'd previously won a Silver in the singles in the '88 (Seoul) demonstration event (Vandierendonck won Gold), as well as a Gold and Bronze in the 1984 "Summer Paralympics" in New York in WC table tennis.

Kalkman was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2017, three years after Vandierendonck had also been enshrined in Newport.



Snow won a Bronze in wheelchair basketball at the '96 Paralympics, and was the first Paralympian inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. Having died in 2009, Snow was posthumously inducted into the ITHoF in 2012.
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Dutch women have occupied the center position on every Paralympic medal stand, winning all 16 Gold medals handed out in the women's competition since the inaugural events in 1992.

The eight singles Golds have been split up between Vergeer (4), van den Bosch (1), Maaike Smit (1), Griffioen (1) and de Groot (1). The '21 Tokyo final between de Groot and Yui Kamiji was the first in Paralympic history that didn't pit one Dutch woman against another, as de Groot defeated the Japanese star on Kamiji's home court.

The eight doubles Golds have been won by six different all-Dutch duos, including two back-to-back winners in Kalkman-van den Bosch/Vandierendonck (1992/96) and Smit/Vergeer (2000/04). Individually, Vergeer won three doubles Golds with two partners (twice w/ Smit, once w/ Marjolein Buis), while Van Koot won the last two games with different partners (Griffioen in '16, de Groot in '21).
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Aussie David Hall was the first men's Paralympic tennis player to collect six total medals, doing so from 1996-2004. Hall won singles Gold in Sydney in '00, as well as three Silvers ('96/'00 MD, '04 MS) and two Bronze ('96 MS/'04 MD).



Hall received a Medal of the Order of Australia for his 2000 Gold medal. He was inducted into the Int'l Tennis Hall of Fame in 2015.
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Aniek Van Koot, though she's been ranked #1 and won 27 (3s/24d) slam titles, has often lived in the shadow of other contemporaries. The Dutch woman has a similar history in the Paralympics, reaching two singles finals (2012 and '16) but losing to a pair of players who swept both the singles and doubles competitions. She won a doubles Gold with one of her conquerors (Griffioen '16), but lost to the other (Vergeer '12) in another (w/ Griffioen) Gold medal doubles match.

In 2021 in Tokyo, Van Koot won her second doubles Gold with another singles Gold winner, Diede de Groot.


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In the 2021 Bronze match for singles, #4 Jordanne Whiley became the first female British singles medalist in the Paralympic WC competition with a three-set victory over #3 Aniek Van Koot.



Whiley had a hand in the three medal-winning turns by British women in the past, as well, teaming with Lucy Shuker for doubles Bronze in 2012 and '16, and Silver in '21.
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The start of something special...

While current wheelchair #1 Diede de Groot *could* one day match the slam records of countrywoman (and mentor) Vergeer, as she has her career marks in regular season majors and year-end Masters competitions, she's still got a ways to go when it comes to challenging her Paralympic glory.

But she got an early start...



As a 19-year old in Rio in 2016, de Groot won a doubles Silver (w/ van Koot) to claim her first Paralympic medal. She wouldn't claim her first major title until a year later, when she won the Wimbledon singles and U.S. Open doubles during the 2017 season.

During those Rio games, "Diede the Great" nearly picked up an additional medal in singles, coming in 4th Place after losing the Bronze match to Yui Kamiji. That result provided the first Paralympics medal won by the now 29-time slam champ (8s/21d) from Japan, who'd seemed set to be the new dominant force in women's wheelchair tennis not long after Vergeer retired... until de Groot made her debut on the scene and began to lap the field.

Kamiji won a pair of medals in her home-hosted Paralympics in Tokyo in '21, coming in second to de Groot in singles to earn the Silver, and taking Bronze in doubles with Momoko Ohtani.

As Japan's Naomi Osaka had done during the Olympics, Kamiji was one of three para-athletes to light the cauldron during the Paralympic Opening Ceremonies.


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*WOMEN'S PARALYMPIC SINGLES MEDALISTS*
[GOLD]
1992 Monique Van den Bosch, NED
1996 Maaike Smit, NED
2000 Esther Vergeer, NED
2004 Esther Vergeer, NED
2008 Esther Vergeer, NED
2012 Esther Vergeer ,NED
2016 Jiske Griffioen, NED
2021 Diede de Groot, NED
[SILVER]
1992 Chantal Vandierendonck, NED
1996 Monique Kalkman-Van den Bosch, NED
2000 Sharon Walraven, NED
2004 Sonja Peters, NED
2008 Korie Homan, NED
2012 Aniek Van Koot, NED
2016 Aniek Van Koot, NED
2021 Yui Kamiji, JPN
[BRONZE]
1992 Regina Isecke, GER
1996 Chantal Vandierendonck, NED
2000 Maaike Smit, NED
2004 Daniela Di Toro, AUS
2008 Florence Gravellier, FRA
2012 Jiske Griffioen, NED
2016 Yui Kamiji, JPN
2021 Jordanne Whiley, GBR

*WOMEN'S PARALYMPIC DOUBLES MEDALISTS*
[GOLD]
1992 Monique Van den Bosch / Chantal Vandierendonck, NED
1996 Chantal Vandierendonck / Monique Kalkman-V., NED
2000 Maaike Smit / Esther Vergeer, NED
2004 Maaike Smit / Esther Vergeer, NED
2008 Korie Homan / Sharon Walraven, NED
2012 Marjolein Buis / Esther Vergeer, NED
2016 Jiske Griffioen / Aniek Van Koot, NED
2021 Diede de Groot / Aniek Van Koot, NED
[SILVER]
1992 Nancy Olson / Lynn Seidemann, USA
1996 Hope Lewellen / Nancy Olson, USA
2000 Branka Pupovac / Daniela Di Toro, AUS
2004 Sakhorn Khanthasit / Ratana Techamaneewat, THA
2008 Jiske Griffioen / Esther Vergeer, NED
2012 Jiske Griffioen / Aniek Van Koot, NED
2016 Marjolein Buis / Diede de Groot, NED
2021 Lucy Shuker / Jordanne Whiley, GBR
[BRONZE]
1992 Oristelle Marx / Arlette Racineux, FRA
1996 Oristelle Marx / Arlette Racineux, FRA
2000 Christine Otterbach / Petra Sax-Scharl, GER
2004 Karin Suter-Erath / Sandra Kalt, SUI
2008 Florence Gravellier / Arlette Racineux, FRA
2012 Lucy Shuker / Jordanne Whiley, GBR
2016 Lucy Shuker / Jordanne Whiley, GBR
2021 Yui Kamiji / Momoko Ohtani, Japan



**WOMEN'S WC PARALYMPIC SWEEPS**
2004 Esther Vergeer, NED
2012 Esther Vergeer, NED
2016 Jiske Griffioen, NED
2021 Diede de Groot, NED

*MEN'S PARALYMPIC SINGLES MEDALISTS*
[GOLD]
1992 Randy Snow, United States
1996 Ricky Molier, Netherlands
2000 David Hall, Australia
2004 Robin Ammerlaan, Netherlands
2008 Shingo Kunieda, Japan
2012 Shingo Kunieda, Japan
2016 Gordon Reid, Great Britain
2021 Shingo Kunieda, Japan
[SILVER]
1992 Kai Schramayer, Germany
1996 Stephen Welch, United States
2000 Stephen Welch, United States
2004 David Hall, Australia
2008 Robin Ammerlaan, Netherlands
2012 Stephane Houdet, France
2016 Alfie Hewett, Great Britain
2021 Tom Egberink, Netherlands
[BRONZE]
1992 Laurent Giammartini, France
1996 David Hall, Australia
2000 Kai Schramayer, Germany
2004 Michael Jeremiasz, France
2008 Maikel Scheffers, Netherlands
2012 Ronald Vink, Netherlands
2016 Joachim Gerard, Belgium
2021 Gordon Reid, Great Britain

*MEN'S PARALYMPIC DOUBLES MEDALISTS*
[GOLD]
1992 Brady Parks / Randy Snow, United States
1996 Stephen Welch / Vance Parmelly, United States
2000 Ricky Molier / Robin Ammerlaan, Netherlands
2004 Shingo Kunieda / Satoshi Saida, Japan
2008 Stephane Houdet / Michael Jeremiasz, France
2012 Stefan Olsson / Peter Vikstrom, Sweden
2016 Stephane Houdet / Nicolas Peifer, France
2021 Stephane Houdet / Nicolas Peifer, France
[SILVER]
1992 Thierry Caillier / Laurent Giammartini, France
1996 David Hall / Mick Connell, Australia
2000 David Johnson / David Hall, Australia
2004 Michael Jeremiasz / Lahcen Majdi, France
2008 Stefan Olsson / Peter Vikstrom, Sweden
2012 Frederic Cattaneo / Nicolas Peifer, France
2016 Alfie Hewett / Gordon Reid, Great Britain
2021 Alfie Hewett / Gordon Reid, Great Britain
[BRONZE]
1992 Stefan Bitterauf / Kai Schramayer, Germany
1996 Ricky Molier / Eric Stuurman, Netherlands
2000 Stephen Welch /Scott Douglas, United States
2004 Anthony Bonaccurso / David Hall, Australia
2008 Shingo Kunieda / Satoshi Saida, Japan
2012 Stephane Houdet / Michael Jeremiasz, France
2016 Shingo Kunieda / Satoshi Saida, Japan
2021 Tom Egberink / Maikel Scheffers, Netherlands







All for now.
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