Wheelchair Tennis at the Parapan Am Games

Wheelchair Tennis Sport Preview:

Team USA had an incredibly successful competition during the Parapan American Games Lima 2019, bringing home a total of five medals (one gold, two silver, and two bronze)—the most of any country. Dana Mathewson is the reigning women’s wheelchair doubles gold medalist alongside Emmy Kaiser, and she is also the women’s wheelchair singles bronze medalist. David Wagner is the 2019 quad singles silver medalist, and Ratzlaff is returning as the men’s wheelchair doubles silver medalist, which he earned alongside Chris Herman. Team USA is looking to continue this strong performance at the Parapan Am Games Santiago 2023.

The 2023 Parapan Am Games also present an exciting opportunity for Team USA athletes to qualify for the Paralympic Games Paris 2024. The winners of the men’s and women’s singles at the Parapan Am Games qualify directly to Paris 2024. The Parapan Am Games also count towards the wheelchair tennis rankings, which will be used to qualify athletes to the Paralympic Games in 2024.

The wheelchair tennis competition is set for Nov. 19-25 at the Tennis and Racket Sports Training Center.

Athletes to Watch:

• Dana Mathewson: Mathewson is a two-time Paralympian, reaching the quarterfinals in the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020. She was the 2022 Wimbledon women’s wheelchair doubles champion.

• Maylee Phelps: Phelps is just 16 years old, but is the number two junior girl in the ITF rankings and was the girls’ wheelchair singles runner-up at the 2023 US Open Junior Wheelchair Championships. She’s won seven titles this season.

• Casey Ratzlaff: Ratzlaff is ranked number 14 and has won three titles this season.

• Conner Stroud: Competing in the men's division, Stroud has won five titles this year, and earned a career-high ranking of number 23 in August.

• David Wagner: Wagner is a three-time Paralympic gold medalist in quad doubles and two-time Paralympic silver medalist in singles. He has won three singles titles this year and is currently ranked number three. Bogdanov has won four tournaments this year and made his Grand Slam debut at this year’s U.S. Open Wheelchair Championships.

Qualification and Selection:

A country was allocated a maximum of two male and two female qualification slots for athletes competing in the men and women’s events. Countries were also allocated a maximum of two qualification slots in the quad event for a maximum team size of six per country.

Qualification slots are allocated to the individual athletes. The 16 highest ranked men and 10 highest ranked women from the Americas Region on the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Singles World Ranking List as of Sept. 11, 2023 each obtained one qualification slot. The seven highest ranked Quad athletes from the Americas Region on the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Singles World Ranking List each obtained one qualification slot. Six men, four women, and three quad athletes were selected by the International Paralympic Committee and the International Tennis Federation of a Bipartite Commission Invitation slot. To be considered for a Bipartite Commission Invitation slot, countries must have submitted an application by Sept. 15, 2023.

For more information on qualification procedures, click here. For more information on selection procedures, click here.