A game for all
The LTA and Getty Images are proud to celebrate 50 years of wheelchair tennis, with a digital exhibition of 50 images - some published for the first time, selected with the help of key figures from the wheelchair tennis community.
Wheelchair tennis was created to break down barriers and make tennis accessible for all. This gallery celebrates the inclusivity of the sport, from grassroots knockabouts to the next generation of Grand Slam champions.
Abbie Breakwell in action at the LTA’s Bolton Indoor ITF3/ WC100 tournament in 2024 – Credit: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images for LTA
Currently British women’s No.3, Abbie Breakwell is an enthusiastic ambassador for wheelchair tennis – and, generally, for getting active and trying any sport.
Having first tried wheelchair tennis when she was a member of the ball crew for the British Open Wheelchair Championships in 2015, Abbie is now also an LTA Accredited Level 2 coach and works with young wheelchair players starting out on their own journey.
Abbie made her Paralympic debut for Great Britain at Paris 2024 and after making her World Team Cup senior women’s debut in 2021, she is LTA Colour Holder Number 314.
Give sport a go, it can change your life – it did mine.
The Lexus GB World Team Cup Junior Team, Junior Champions at the 2023 BNP Paribas World Team Cup in Vilamoura, Portugal in – Credit: Frank Molter
The 2023 World Team Cup in Portugal proved to be a landmark occasion for British wheelchair tennis, with both the men’s team and the junior team winning their respective events at the same World Team Cup for the first time.
Players Oliver Cox, Ruben Harris and Joshua Johns beat the USA in a tense deciding doubles match in the final.
It was also a historic occasion for Team Captain Marc McCarroll, who is the only known player to have been a member of a winning World Team Cup men’s team (in 2015) and to have then captained another team to a World Team Cup title.
British player Ruby Bishop in women’s singles action at the Lexus Eastbourne Open in 2025 – Credit: Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images for LTA
Ruby Bishop and fellow Norfolk player Ben Bartram saw their own wheelchair tennis careers flourish after attending a Tennis Foundation Talent ID Day in the wake of the unprecedented success of British wheelchair tennis players at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
Both players are now LTA Colour holders, having successfully represented Great Britain in junior and senior World Team Cup teams.
Alongside her playing career, Bishop is a passionate campaigner for making school PE lessons more inclusive, having drawn on her own experiences at school and now working to improve things for future generations of disabled pupils.
Naomie Tarver and Will Barton celebrate winning a rarely-played mixed double event at the 2023 Lexus Wheelchair Tennis National Finals – Credit: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images for LTA
Wheelchair tennis is a sport accessible for all abilities and ages to enjoy and the LTA’s annual disability tennis calendar includes regional tournaments across the country.
The climax of the LTA domestic wheelchair tennis season is the Lexus Wheelchair Tennis National Finals.
As well as teaming up to enjoy success at the National Finals in 2023, Naomie Tarver and Will Barton have both gone on to enjoy success at the National Finals of Play Your Way to Wimbledon, powered by Vodafone, the UK’s largest grass roots tennis competition.
Barton was subsequently a member of the victorious Lexus GB World Team Cup Junior Team in 2025.
Britain’s Lucas de Gouveia hits a forehand at the 2025 US Open Junior Wheelchair Tennis Championships in New York – Credit: Ishika Samant/2025 Getty Images
Wheelchair tennis has come such a long way in its 50 years, but new innovations continue and the 2020s have included the advent of junior Grand Slam wheelchair draws.
The likes of Ben Bartram, Dahnon Ward, Joshua Johns and Ruben Harris have all won junior Grand Slam singles or doubles titles since 2022, and 2025 saw rising star Lucas de Gouveia make his debut at the US Open Junior Wheelchair Championships in New York.
Silverware proved elusive for De Gouveia in New York, but that changed in Melbourne this year after he partnered Belgium’s Alexander Lantermann to victory in the Australian Open Junior boys’ doubles draw after a final also featuring fellow Brit Matthew Knoesen.
Britain’s Lucy Foyster and Japan’s Seira Matsuoka with their trophy after winning the girls’ doubles title at the 2026 Australian Open Junior Wheelchair Championships – Credit: Kelly Defina/Getty Images
One of several players hailing from Norfolk who are currently on the various levels of the LTA Wheelchair Performance Pathway, 12-year-old Lucy Foyster made history at Melbourne Park earlier this year.
While several young Brits have won boys’ wheelchair singles or doubles titles in junior Grand Slam competition since 2022, Foyster achieved something unique.
Making her junior Grand Slam debut in Melbourne, she paired up with Matsuoka to win the girls’ doubles title, thereby becoming the first British female to earn a junior Grand Slam wheelchair title. Foyster and Matsuoka beat Belgium’s Luna Gryp and the USA’s Lucy Heald 6-3, 7-5 in their final.
Learning the best way to change tyres on a tennis wheelchair – Credit: Tom Dulat/Getty Images for LTA
Whether playing wheelchair tennis for recreation or at the elite level, maintaining all equipment so that it’s fit for purpose is essential.
At April’s 50th Anniversary of Wheelchair Tennis Celebration at Bishop’s Park in London, activities that were organised and delivered by the Queen’s Club Foundation and Middlesex LTA included a CPD course for coaches, enabling them to develop and refine their skill sets to better support any wheelchair users they coach.
When I got involved in coaching and helping to develop players, that was my biggest enjoyment and my proudest.
Mark Bullock conducting a coaching session at Bishop’s Park Tennis Centre in London - Credit: Tom Dulat/Getty Images for LTA
There are few people in the 50-year journey of wheelchair tennis who have fulfilled as many roles as former Great Britain men’s coach Mark Bullock.
From being personal coach to former British men’s No.1 Jayant Mistry, to being Wheelchair Tennis Manager for eight of his 15 years at the International Tennis Federation’s Wheelchair Tennis Department, Bullock’s knowledge and experience is extensive and his passion for wheelchair tennis has taken him to more than 80 countires.
Now an independent Inclusive Sport Development Advisor, and named LTA Development Coach of the Year for 2021, Bullock’s current roles include working with the All England Club as coordinator of the wheelchair tennis events at The Championships.
Two-time Paralympian Louise Hunt Skelley on court with young player Leo - Credit: Tom Dulat/Getty Images for LTA
Wheelchair tennis provides a sustainable lifelong career pathway and no one knows this better than London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympian Louise Hunt Skelley.
From first trying wheelchair tennis at the age of seven, Louise has a collection of World Team Cup medals, has played competitively at The Championships and won over 70 career titles across singles and doubles.
Since retiring from her competitive career in 2021, Louise has become a key part of the LTA’s army of tournament directors and is currently tournament director for the Lexus British Open Roehampton, Abingdon Futures and Bolton Indoor WC175, alongside her other roles as a successful broadcaster and motivational speaker.
A young family take to the tennis courts together to enjoy a game that allows them to integrate and play together thanks to the sport’s rules - Credit: SolStock/GettyImages
Tennis is, beyond doubt, a sport for all, as demonstrated by the family in this photo.
Adult or child, non-disabled or a full-time or part-time wheelchair user, everyone can enjoy playing together and tennis clubs across the world see games involving wheelchair users and non-disabled players, thanks to the sport’s rules.
Written into the ITF Rules of Tennis as far back as 1988, the two-bounce rule enables wheelchair and non-disabled players to play together, providing the wheelchair user plays two bounces before returning the ball and the non-disabled player plays to the traditional one bounce.
Now, get out there and get playing. The ball is in your court. Play Your Way.
