Wheelchair tennis makes strides foreward

On June 17, the US Open announced that the 2020 tournament will feature no qualifying, mixed or junior draws. The reaction from the wheelchair community was powerful and effective. Just one week later, the wheelchair event was back on.

Sixteen-time Grand Slam winner Dylan Alcott was one of the most vocal athletes.

With the support of fellow players, Alcott (the US Open singles finalist and men's doubles champion in 2019) helped get the 2020 tournament reinstated. His gratitude was palpable.

The swift reversal is just another example of how far wheelchair tennis has come. Before the US Open's decisions came to light, USTA wheelchair head coach Jason Harnett spoke on the TENNIS.com Podcast.

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"When you look at the whole scope of the sport, if the able-bodied world can start to look for ways to integrate—where it's reasonable—the exposure level for [wheelchair] players, they go up and up," he said.

Harnett addressed the fact that wheelchair players don't earn as much as able-bodied athletes. At the 2019 US Open, Andrew Lapthorne won $33,600 for beating Alcott in the final. First-round loser in the able-bodied singles draw earned $58,000.

But the huge disparity between the financial earnings on tour has been improving over the years, particularly at the Grand Slam level. Not having a wheelchair tournament alongside the men's and women's draws would have been a huge step in the wrong direction.

"The owners of the Grand Slams—and we happen to own the US Open—are starting to figure out we need to press our wheelchair athletes more and more because parasport is not going away," Harnett said. "It's only growing worldwide. From the USTA's perspective, we need to be at the forefront."