Wheelchair tennis

Events & Disciplines

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

Classification

Who is eligible to compete in wheelchair tennis?

Athletes with a physical impairment, who have significant or total loss of function in one or both legs due to conditions including spinal cord injury, nerve damage, limb loss or deficiency, cerebral palsy and other lower limb impairments

What are the classes?

There are two classes in wheelchair tennis – Open and Quad.

More info: Wheelchair Tennis Classification Information Sheet (Updated Jan 2020)

How do I get classified?

Request a classification here.

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

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.