Best of British

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.

British wheelchair tennis players have played a central role in shaping the sport’s competitive and cultural history. This gallery celebrates some of the iconic British successes we have seen on the world stage.  

Janet McMorran speaks to the media at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, the second of four Paralympic Games for the former British No.1 - Credit: Dawn Newbery

Long before the success of current and former British No.1 women’s wheelchair players such as Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley, Janet McMorran paved the way for future generations of female players.

After an accident, McMorran didn’t start her wheelchair tennis career until she was 36, but was British No.1 for many years, won more than 20 singles titles and 15 doubles titles and was there at the beginning of wheelchair tennis' Paralympic journey, in Barcelona in 1992, where she narrowly missed winning the women’s singles bronze medal to Germany’s Regina Isecke.

She played in the men’s draw at the very first British Open in 1990, because there were not enough players for a women’s draw at that time. The sport has come a long way.

Great Britain’s Peter Norfolk OBE celebrates winning the first of his two successive Paralympic quad singles gold medals in Athens in 2004 – Credit: Getty Images

While wheelchair tennis made its Paralympic debut as a full medal sport in Barcelona in 1992, quad singles and doubles draws, for players whose disability affects both upper and lower limbs, didn’t make their Paralympic debut until the Athens 2004 Games, where Peter became the inaugural Paralympic quad singles gold medallist and also won silver in the quad doubles.

Nicknamed the Quadfather, Peter enjoyed many high-profile successes during his career, particularly at the Australian Open and the US Open in an era when wheelchair tennis inclusion at the Grand Slam tournaments was gaining momentum. He retired in early 2013 to focus on family and his business, a specialist mobility company.

Jayant Mistry celebrates winning the first wheelchair doubles title at The Championships in 2005 - the first British man to triumph at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936 – Credit: Getty Images

While wheelchair tennis’s first appearances at The Championships came in doubles exhibitions between 2001 and 2004, Jayant made Wimbledon history when he and Frenchman Michael Jeremiasz edged to victory in a thrilling third set tie-break in 2005 on Court 14.

By then, Jayant had already made history by winning the inaugural men’s wheelchair doubles draw at the Australian Open in 2002. British men’s No.1 for more than 15 years during his career, Jayant announced his retirement from full-time competition in 2007 after injury had thwarted his bid to play at The Championships for a third year in a row.

Doubles bronze medallists Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley made history at London 2012, becoming the first British female tennis players to win a Paralympic medal – Credit: Getty Images

The London 2012 Paralympics was a landmark occasion for many reasons, but for Jordanne and Lucy it was the first of three successive Paralympic Games at which they reached the women’s doubles medal podium. 

Both British No.1 women’s players in their own right, Jordanne and Lucy had already reached their one and only Wimbledon women’s doubles final together earlier in 2012, but London 2012 was historic. They would go on and repeat their bronze medal-winning performance at the Rio 2016 Paralympics before also becoming the first British female players to win a Paralympic silver medal when they reached the Tokyo 2020 women’s doubles final.

Jordanne Whiley at Wimbledon in 2014, the year she became the first Brit to complete a calendar Grand Slam after winning all four women’s doubles majors alongside Japan’s Yui Kamiji – Credit: Getty Images

2014 brought the first of 12 career Grand Slam titles for then British No.1 Jordanne Whiley, but that does not adequately tell the story of her 2014 season.

No British tennis player – non-disabled or wheelchair – had ever won a calendar Grand Slam in any singles or doubles draw before 2014, but Whiley achieved exactly that alongside best friend Kamiji, the duo having learned how to negotiate any English-Japanese language barrier. They went on to win a further four Wimbledon titles together, with Whiley winning her first and only Grand Slam singles title in 2015 at the US Open.

Alfie Hewett fires a serve during his Rio 2016 men’s singles final against Gordon Reid – the first Paralympic tennis gold medal match between two Brits – Credit: Getty Images

The Rio Paralympic Games was an unprecedented triumph for British wheelchair tennis.

With the sport, particularly at Paralympic level, having so often been dominated by Dutch players, the ParalympicsGB wheelchair tennis team topped the tennis medal table in Rio with a total of six medals across five medal events.

As part of the team success, Paralympic debutant Alfie Hewett, seeded 13, cast aside several higher-ranked players to reach the a historic all-British men’s singles final, eventually ending up as the silver medallist.

A jubilant Gordon Reid celebrates becoming Britain’s first Paralympic tennis men’s singles champion after beating Alfie Hewett in their historic all-Brit final at Rio 2016 – Credit: Getty Images

As much as the Rio Paralympics was an astounding success for British wheelchair tennis, the whole of the 2016 season was meteoric for Gordon Reid.

British No.1 at the time, Reid claimed his first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open in January of that year, became the inaugural Wimbledon men’s wheelchair singles champion in July and topped those achievements by becoming the first Brit to win a Paralympic men’s singles gold medal after beating an 18-year old Alfie Hewett 6-2, 6-1 in the all-British final, having beaten top seed Stephane Houdet of France in the semis.

Lucy Shuker in action at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, her fifth Paralympics Games, where she was selected to be flagbearer for Team GB – Credit Getty Images

After four Paralympic Games and winning doubles medals at the most recent three of those, Lucy Shuker’s Paris 2024 experience began in the best possible way after she was selected to be one of two flagbearers by her fellow athletes in the ParalympicsGB delegation.

On court, Shuker reached the second round of the women’s singles.

Record-breaking partnership Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid on their way to becoming the first men’s wheelchair doubles pairing to complete the career Golden Slam at Paris 2024 – Credit Getty Images

Roland Garros had played a significant role in the careers of Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid long before the Paris Paralympics, with Hewett having won his first Grand Slam singles title in Paris in 2017 and Reid having won the first Grand Slam doubles title of his career on the Parisian clay in 2015.

However, after two successive Paralympic men’s doubles silver medals in Rio and Tokyo, it was French delight for Hewett and Reid at the Paris Paralympics as they became the first men’s wheelchair doubles partnership to win a Paralympic Gold medal on top of having won the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open titles together.

They did so against the backdrop of phenomenal crowd support for wheelchair tennis as a Paralympic Tennis Event was held at a Grand Slam venue for the first time.

Andy Lapthorne celebrates winning his second Lexus Eastbourne Open quad singles title in June 2025 after beating two top 10 ranked opponents – Credit Getty Images

British No.1 quad singles player Andy Lapthorne has always worn his heart on his sleeve and no more so than when winning the 2025 Lexus Eastbourne Open quad singles title.

Lapthorne’s second Eastbourne Open singles title in three years came after defeating two higher-ranked top 10 players – Dutchman Sam Schroder, who Lapthorne beat in the semis in Eastbourne for the second year in a row – and Turkey’s Ahmet Kaplan.