Anderson Parker, Heath Davidson and Ben Weekes will head to Paris as a part of the Australian Wheelchair tennis group for the 2024 Paralympic Video games.
Melbourne, Australia, 5 August 2024 | Rhys de Deugd@TennisAustralia | #WheelchairTennis #ImagineWhatWeCanDo #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/TCv13e0lzQ
— AUS Paralympic Workforce (@AUSParalympics) August 5, 2024
Anderson Parker, who received the open males’s singles division on the 2023 Australian Wheelchair Tennis Nationwide Championships in November, will make his Paralympic debut.
“Doing the official announcement it’s now kind of turning into extra of a realisation, so I’m very nervous however excited as effectively,” Parker defined.
“With all my household coming down, to only expertise Paris with them if I get the chance to get out and discover.”
Parker was a top-ranked junior earlier than being de-classified from the game and taking on wheelchair basketball.
After a number of years away from the sport, Parker returned to tennis and labored intently with skilled Australian gamers together with Ben Weekes, who he’ll share the court docket with for doubles in Paris.
Weekes is about to compete in his sixth Paralympic Video games, breaking his personal Australian tennis document.
“I keep in mind again to my first (Paralympic) Video games, and for me, the very best half was having these different Australians round to sort of cope with the strain,” Weekes stated.
“It’s good that I can provide again to Andy (Parker) in his first Video games and hopefully we will group up very well within the doubles and get a superb consequence.”
Anthony Bonaccurso, who teamed with David Corridor to assert the Athens 2004 Paralympic doubles bronze medal, offered the group with their QANTAS boarding passes as a part of the presentation led by Chef de Mission Kate McLoughlin on the Nationwide Tennis Centre in Melbourne.
“Wheelchair tennis has produced a few of Australia’s best Paralympic moments because it was launched as a medal sport on the Barcelona Video games in 1992,” McLoughlin stated.
“From David Corridor’s unbelievable gold medal at Sydney 2000 to Danni di Toro’s superb profession and Dylan Alcott’s profitable gold medal defence at Tokyo 2020, Australia has a proud historical past in Paralympic wheelchair tennis.”
Discover your method to play: Go to play.tennis.com.au to get out on court docket and have some enjoyable!