How Japan emerged as a wheelchair tennis powerhouse

When Yui Kamiji first picked up a racket, it was because she wanted to play with her older sister. Kamiji was born with spina bifida and was able to walk a little as a child. While playing with her sister, she saw people playing in wheelchairs at a nearby court.

“He was moving so smoothly, and I thought if I was in a wheelchair, I could do more,” she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “It was so much fun playing with my sister. I never wanted to compete in anything… I can’t believe how much my life has changed.”

The pinnacle of her career came last year at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, where she defeated her long-time rival and 23-time grand slam champion Diede de Groot to win gold for Japan. The moment overwhelmed her, the 30-year-old was shocked into silence and began to cry. “I couldn’t move … I was crying so hard and so emotional,” she said. “People trusted me and believed I could win the gold medal.”

The Paralympics were also an emotional moment for her compatriot, teenage prodigy Tokito Oda, who won all four grand slams and a gold medal. In Paris, he unclipped his wheels and lay on his back on the French clay, basking in the glory of his victory. “It made me realize that I was born for this moment,” he told Japanese reporters after the match.

Kamiji and Oda, both world number ones in their respective sports, have their sights set on the Australian Open title after winning their semi-finals yesterday. The inspirational impact of the Japanese legends cannot be understated. The Netherlands have long dominated the wheelchair tennis landscape, but Japan has also emerged as a powerful force.

“We don’t have a long history, but we have many stories,” Kamiji said, adding that the key to Japan’s success is the pioneering contribution of wheelchair tennis legend Shingo Kunieda. “He showed us how to dream, and how to improve not only as a player but as a person. Now everyone wants to try wheelchair tennis,” Kamiji said. Kunieda was also an inspiration for Oda; when Oda was nine and undergoing surgery for bone cancer, he watched a video of Kunieda winning gold at the 2012 London Paralympics from his hospital bed.

Vicki Tolfrey, a British sports scientist, says having great role models can inspire enthusiasm and lead to a country’s wider success in the sport, as was the case with the Netherlands. “Having a player like Shingo Kunieda, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest wheelchair tennis players of all time, inspires a new generation of players,” she told the ABC. “I suspect he inspired young athletes [like Oda], and now you are seeing a lot of sponsorship and media coverage, which further promotes the sport.”

But Tolfrey, a professor of applied disability and para sport at Loughborough University in the UK, says there are other factors behind Japan’s success. “Japan’s dominance in wheelchair tennis can be attributed to a combination of cultural, structural and individual factors,” she said. She said Japan has strong institutional support for para sports, and the Japan Wheelchair Tennis Association has played a crucial role in developing talent from the grassroots level.

“I have visited spinal cord injury rehabilitation centers in Japan, and the staff work incredibly hard, and I suspect their dedication and discipline also aligns with the demands of professional sport,” she said. “Wheelchair tennis is a highly technical sport – you have to coordinate the propulsion of the chair with holding the tennis racket – fine-tuning the interaction between the hand rim-propulsion-user.”

“On top of that, one of the areas I work in is wheelchair ergonomics, and Japan’s expertise in technology and engineering has also played a role in creating advanced, lightweight and customized wheelchairs for their athletes, giving them a competitive edge.” She said Japan has made “significant progress in promoting inclusion and accessibility in sports, ensuring that athletes with disabilities have opportunities to train and compete”.

Oda was dominant in his 6-1, 6-1 victory over Martin de la Puente, circling like a shark, waiting for the Spaniard’s serve. He painted mesmerizing figure eights with his wheels before unleashing a cross-court forehand winner and a backhand topspin. Charging towards a short ball, he dispatched a precise backhand slice that de la Puente could not return. Kamiji was locked in a more intense battle with China’s Xiaohui Li.

She was down in the first set, but for “a little revenge” she disrupted Li’s rhythm to eventually win 6-4, 6-1. Tomorrow, they will each face the world’s number two ranked wheelchair tennis players; Oda will rematch last year’s final against Britain’s Alfie Hewett, and Kamiji will reprise their 2020 clash against the Netherlands’ Aniek van Koot. Oda is already primed for the rematch. “Let’s rock,” he said in a post-match interview.

With de Groot absent due to hip surgery, Kamiji has a strong chance of taking the title. Kamiji said she enjoys the challenge de Groot brings, and their rivalry has elevated the level of women’s wheelchair tennis. Kamiji has won the Australian Open twice, but has lost to the Dutch player in the past two years. But her goal this year is to lift the elusive Wimbledon trophy.

Professor Tolfrey says athletes with less upper-limb impairment tend to excel in wheelchair tennis. She hopes in the future the International Tennis Federation (ITF) can introduce other divisions besides the current open and quad divisions – the latter of which is the division that Australian Dylan Alcott excelled in. The sport is expanding, and this year’s Australian Open has a larger draw and more wheelchair events, including qualifying and junior competitions. “It’s amazing. There are junior boys and girls here, so they can progress through and hopefully one day play in the main draw and get the same experience that I was lucky enough to get in the chair,” Alcott said.

The total prize money for the wheelchair events is $1.6 million, with the winners in the men’s, women’s and quad divisions receiving $109,000. As Kamiji prepares for tomorrow’s final, she is eager to put on a great show for the audience. “I want to show people how we play wheelchair tennis and have people enjoy it,” she said. “I’m really grateful for the people who started wheelchair tennis, and now we are here.” “For the next generation, I want to show them another history.”