Former world number one, Stephane Houdet is pushing for able-bodied athletes to be allowed to compete in wheelchair tennis in the hope it can become an Olympic event.
Houdet has already discussed his proposal with other top male players and disability sports offi cials.
Th e 46-year-old wants the sport to be the fi rst to make the transition from the Paralympics to the Olympics.
“It’s about inclusion and taking the sport to the next level,” he said.
“Wheelchair tennis is among the best wheelchair sports professionally, and right now we are in the locker rooms at the US Open with all the other players.
“What we are is grouped relating to who you are and how you are.
Why can’t we go further together?” Rules for both wheelchair tennis and the running game are almost identical.
Th e major difference is that two bounces are allowed in wheelchair tennis before the ball is returned, and only the first bounce has to be in the court.
Twelve-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic tested his abilities in wheelchair tennis in Melbourne earlier this year, facing Paralympic champion Dylan Alcott during a charity event before the Australian Open.
A new horizon for Paralympians While the change would grow the talent pool exponentially, Houdet who had his left leg amputated above the knee following a motorbike accident at the age of 24 said it would open new horizons for disabled athletes.
“We are part of a small group of people who are more or less limited to playing tennis in a wheelchair, so when we win a title, a medal, it relates to the group that we belong to,” said the 20-time Grand Slam winner.
“I want to change it so that anyone and everyone can sit in the chair and play.
Anyone can Wheelchair Tennis: An Olympic dream? ed, and to be in Slam c tested r tennis is year, ampion charity stralian mpians ld grow entially, left leg knee accident would disabled l group or less is in a win a to the o,” said winner.
so that n sit in one can It is played at each of the four Grand Slam tournaments, with men’s and women’s singles and doubles crowns up for grabs at each.
Additionally, the US Open and Australian O p e n include a Quad division – for athletes who have three or more limbs affected – for singles and doubles.
Like the ATP and WTA, there is an end-of-year Masters tournament, which, after three years at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, will be hosted at Loughborough University in November.
After the US Open – where Houdet and fellow Frenchman Nicolas Peifer will face British pair Gordon Reid and Alfi e Hewett in Saturday’s doubles fi nal – the world number four plans to make a proposal to French tennis officials with the hope of lobbying the ITF to make changes.
Ultimately, the three-time Grand Slam singles winner and 17-time doubles champion wants to the see the sport considered as a new event for the 2024 Olympic Games, which are set to be staged in Paris.
The workability Five new sports – baseball/ softball, karate, sport climbing, surfi ng and skateboarding are all joining the line-up for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, and mixed-gender events in athletics, swimming, table tennis and triathlon have also been approved.
Th e new additions were all recommended by Tokyo organisers and unanimously backed by the executive board of the International Olympic Committee, while traditionally a sport’s international federation would petition the IOC.
Changes proposed by Houdet, in which any disability requirements to play the sport competitively would be scrapped, would mean players such as Andy Murray and Johanna Konta could also compete in wheelchair events.
“We have a professional tour, a mix of genders play, we are part of the ITF and tournaments are televised globally,” said Houdet.
“OK, the sport is not open to all, so let’s change that and apply to the IOC.
” How Paralympics sustained me Before his a c c i d e n t , H o u d e t admits he had never h e a r d of the Paralympics.
After it, however, the former golfer said he “learned from it”, going on to win two gold medals in the doubles.
“What has changed since London 2012 is that people saw what challenges so many of us have come back from,” he said.
“People would like their children to have that same psychology and attitude no matter what they have been through.
But no-one wants their son to have just one leg, for their daughter to be an amputee.
“If a four-year-old can sit there and want to be a Paralympian by playing wheelchair tennis, maybe one day they can think about an Olympian in that same chair.
” do it, so let’s integrate as a sport.
“Sport is all about competition.
You want to be the best in the world, not be the best of a group and left out from the wider sporting population.
” Fe r n a n d e z t h r o w s racquet at b a l l and still w i n s t h e point Houdet admits not all share his vision, having fi rst called a meeting to talk about the idea with some of the world’s top players, including British number one Reid, at July’s British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships in Nottingham.
“Slowly I think some attitudes are changing,” he said.
“First they thought, ‘oh no, able-bodied athletes will be too strong’, but now they are thinking they can be part of the wider world and that t h e y c a n challenge their bodies by playing together.
“It is no advantage to have two legs in wheelchair tennis.
Th e best body type is to have a very strong upper body and almost nothing below the waist.
” A snapshot of wheelchair tennis Wheelchair tennis has been part of the Paralympics as a medal event since 1992, having been introduced as a demonstration sport in Soul four years earlier.
It was the fi rst disability sport to become fully integrated into a world governing body, when it was taken on board by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in 1998.
