Team behind the triumphs
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.
While wheelchair tennis players are the stars on-court, there is an entire team off-court making it all possible. This gallery shines a light on the coaches, commentators, fans, volunteers, and many others who have contributed to the success of wheelchair tennis.
Dan Maskell, renowned commentator and the BBC’s ‘Voice of Wimbledon’ for many years – Credit: Tommy Hindley/Professional Sport/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images
Aside from the tennis broadcasting career for which he is best known, Dan Maskell was also the Royal Air Force’s first rehabilitation officer and his passion for sport as a means of rehabilitation lives on through the charity that bears his name.
The Dan Maskell Tennis Trust is a major advocate and funding body for disabled people playing tennis.
Originally founded in 1997, it became an independent charity in 2010. The Trust has received support from the LTA Tennis Foundation and continues to provide grant aid for disability tennis groups and individuals at grass roots level and has been an invaluable support to the development of many of Britain’s most decorated wheelchair players.
Athens 2004 quad doubles silver medallists Mark Eccleston and Peter Norfolk are applauded by Great Britain support staff – Credit: Dawn Newbery
Athens 2024 was a key event in the journey of wheelchair tennis at the Paralympic Games as it saw the introduction of quad singles and doubles draws for players whose disability affects both upper and lower limbs.
While Britain’s Peter Norfolk became the inaugural Paralympic quad singles champion in Athens, in the quad doubles event Norfolk and fellow former world No.1 Mark Eccleston won the silver medal after finishing runners-up to Americans Nick Taylor and David Wagner.
Norfolk and Eccleston are pictured showing off their medals and commemorative laurel wreath crowns to the Britsh tennis support staff in the crowd.
London 2012 Stadium – Credit: Tommy Hindley/Professional Sport/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images
London 2012 was a watershed moment for Paralympic sport and, aside from fantastic crowd support, included the first purpose-built venue for a Paralympic Tennis Event.
British fans flocked to support the athletes at the Eton Manor venue built at the northern end of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with sell-out crowds for some sessions – especially when the Brits were in action.
The venue is now called the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre and while the centre court during the London 2012 Games is now a hockey pitch, the tennis legacy of the London 2012 Paralympics lives on, with the centre’s indoor tennis courts having since been used to host the year-end Wheelchair Tennis Masters between 2014 and 2016.
American quad wheelchair tennis legend David Wagner was celebrated throughout the London 2012 Paralympic Tennis Event, with his supporters waving large masks bearing his face – Credit: Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images
David Wagner arrived at the London 2012 Paralympics having already won quad doubles gold medals at both Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, as well as silver and bronze medals in singles.
With his band of supporters eager for their man to make it two gold medals in London, they cheered him on while brandishing a series of giant face masks bearing Wagner’s face.
Their efforts were rewarded with Wagner winning quad singles silver and quad doubles gold medals for the second time in three Paralympics and his current haul of eight Paralympic medals puts him at the top of the individual medal table for a Paralympic wheelchair tennis player, alongside Dutchwoman Esther Vergeer.
Clare Wood, Tennis Competition Manager for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games– Credit: Tommy Hindley/Professional Sport/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images
Former British women’s No.1 Clare Wood was central to the planning and successful delivery of the London 2012 Olympic Tennis Event at the All England Club at Wimbledon and the Paralympic Tennis Event at Eton Manor.
In her role, Wood worked closely with former British men’s No.1 wheelchair player Jayant Mistry, who had been appointed as Wheelchair Tennis Manager for the Paralympic Tennis Event.
Needless to say, both Olympic and Paralympic Tennis Events in London were a resounding success, with Andy Murray and Laura Robson delivering British medals on court at Wimbledon and Andy Lapthorne, Peter Norfolk, Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley delivering Paralympic medals.
Wimbledon 2016 men’s wheelchair singles champion Gordon Reid surrounded by ‘Team Reid’ his loyal band of supporting friends and family – Credit: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Gordon Reid arrived at the All England Club in July 2016 having already made history as the first Brit to win a Grand Slam men’s wheelchair singles title following his victory at that season’s Australian Open.
Reid had also finished runner-up at the French Open, but even better was to come. The day after winning the first of a current six Wimbledon men’s doubles titles with Alfie Hewettt, Reid defeated Sweden’s Stefan Olsson to become the first ever men’s wheelchair singles winner at The Championships.
The magnitude of his achievement understandably thrilled ‘Team Reid’. Directly behind Reid in this photo are his brothers, David and Stephen, complete with the white Alice bands that were Reid’s on-court trademark at the time.
Wheelchair tennis media officer Marshall Thomas interviewing Great Britain player Dahnon Ward after the junior final at the 2019 World Team Cup in Israel – Credit: Mathilde Dusol
British wheelchair tennis media officer for the last 25 years, Thomas has been courtside or on the end of a live broadcast for many of the biggest successes for British players and teams.
Recognised by the Queen for services to disability tennis with a British Empire Medal in the 2022 New Year Honours List, Marshall Thomas BEM, has played an integral role in reporting on wheelchair tennis on the national and international stage for over a quarter of a century. From serving as a press officer for the British Open in 1997, Thomas has covered every Paralympic Tennis Event since the turn of the century and is widely considered one of the world's foremost authorities in wheelchair tennis.
The circumstances around the interview taking place in this photo were difficult, with Dahnon Ward a member of the Great Britain junior team that had narrowly lost to Australia in the deciding doubles match of the 2019 World Team Cup junior final.
Further World Team Cup junior silver medals would come for Ward, but he went on to win US Open junior titles in singles and doubles in 2022 and 2023 and is now a senior men’s World Team Cup champion.
He is the keeper of all of our stories.
Lexus GB World Team Cup Squad at the 2024 World Team Cup in Antalya, Turkey – Credit: Frank Molter
Great Britain’s World Team Cup Squads have been hugely successful at the ITF’s flagship wheelchair tennis team event across the decades, having won each of the men’s, quad and junior titles on more than once occasion, with the women’s teams having also won multiple silver medals.
The 2024 GB Lexus World Team Cup Team pictured above returned from Antalya with just one medal – a fourth gold medal for the men’s team since 2015.
Last year, the men’s team and the quad team both won bronze medals, while the junior team claimed their second World Team Cup title in three years. The team behind the team is crucial to such successes.
A record crowd for a Paralympic Tennis Final as Alfie Hewett takes on Japan’s world No.1 Tokito Oda for the men’s singles gold medal at Paris 2024 – Credit: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
The public appetite for Paralympic sport reached new levels at Paris 2024, as Roland Garros became the first Grand Slam venue to host a Paralympic Tennis Event.
Both Court Philippe Chatrier and Court Suzanne Lenglen, the two main show courts at Roland Garros, hosted a succession of sold-out sessions throughout the nine days of competition.
Alfie Hewett and Tokito Oda’s men’s singles gold medal match was watched by 15,225 fans on Court Philippe Chatrier – a record crowd for a Paralympic tennis final.
It was just incredible and we certainly did our bit for wheelchair tennis today and the Paralympic movement. Sometimes that’s bigger than winning a medal, I think.” said Hewett
While it wasn't to be for Hewett in the men's singles, a day earlier Hewett and Gordon Reid enjoyed similar crowd support on the same court as they completed the men’s doubles Golden Slam.
Celebrating some of the early pioneers of the growth of wheelchair tennis in Great Britain in the 1980s and 1990s - Credit: Tom Dulat/Getty Images for LTA
This photo shows four people who championed the development and growth of wheelchair tennis in Great Britain in the 1980s and 1990s and continue to do so.
Sue Wolstenholme OBE, former Executive Director of what is now the Tennis Foundation – formerly the LTA Trust and the British Tennis Foundation – Martin McElhatton OBE, Dawn Newbery (former Great Britain National Wheelchair Tennis Coach) and Noel McShane.
The quartet are pictured at a 50th Anniversary of wheelchair tennis celebration at Bishop’s Park Tennis Centre, Fulham, the home of the first British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships in 1990. McElhatton and McShane are among those who contested that tournament, but their contributions run far deeper.
I’ve gone from being an administrator and someone helping wheelchair tennis to grow, to basically being a fan these days. I love watching it as often as I can.
