Sports Summary

Wheelchair tennis first appeared at the Paralympics at the Barcelona 1992 Games.

Wheelchair tennis is open to athletes with a physical impairment. Players compete in singles and doubles events. In wheelchair tennis, players compete on the doubles court dimensions and can allow the ball to bounce twice before returning it.

For more information on Wheelchair tennis Eligibility and How to Get Involved please see the Wheelchair tennis Information Sheet (PDF – 84KB) – updated June 2022.

Events & Disciplines

Men’s, women’s and quad singles and doubles events are contested at the Paralympic Games.

Classification

Wheelchair tennis is open to athletes with a physical impairment. Athletes are required to submit medical reports and meet the minimum impairment criteria in order to compete. Eligibility is determine by trained Classifiers.

For more information on Eligible Impairments and Classification please see the Wheelchair tennis Information Sheet (PDF – 84KB) – updated June 2022.

Rules & Equipment

Ball

A ball is made of two elastic hemispheres joined together and covered by a layer of wool and synthetic threads. Its colour must be yellow or white.

Racket

The first tennis rackets were wooden, and strings were made of ewe bowels. Tennis rackets today are made of technologically advanced material like graphite, with strings made of synthetic threads. Players may use a strap to help them hold the racket.

Wheelchair

Wheelchair tennis chairs are lighter than most wheelchairs, to increase speed and manoeuvrability.

Court

In singles competition, the court is 23.77m by 8.23m, and in doubles competition, it is 23.77m by 10.97m. The same court can be marked for singles and doubles. It is divided into two halves by a net, which extends at a height of 0.914m at its centre and 1.07m at its sides. There are four types of courts – clay, grass, hard and carpet.

Medal History

Year Gold Silver Bronze total
2020 1 1 0 2
2016 2 0 0 2
2004 0 1 2 3
2000 1 2 0 3
1996 0 1 1 2
1988 0 1 0 1

Contacts

We encourage those wishing to explore wheelchair tennis to contact their state federation in the first instance. The national federation link below provides information on the national high performance program leading to competing internationally and at the Paralympic Games.

National Federation
Organisation Website
Tennis Australia tennis.com.au
State Federations
State Organisation Website
ACT Tennis ACT tennis.com.au/act
NSW Tennis NSW tennis.com.au/nsw
NT Tennis NT tennis.com.au/nt
QLD Tennis QLD tennis.com.au/qld
SA Tennis SA tennis.com.au/sa
TAS Tennis TAS tennis.com.au/tas
VIC Tennis VIC tennis.com.au/vic
WA Tennis West tennis.com.au/wa