| 1981 - 1985 |
 | | Jean Pierre Limborg (FRA) |
1981
The Wheelchair Tennis Players Association (WTPA) was formed in 1981, under the auspices of the NFWT, so that the ever-increasing number of players would have an active role in governing the sport of wheelchair tennis.
The WTPA was formed to:
a) Foster competitive wheelchair tennis for the physically disabled throughout the world;
b) Establish and enforce rules which create fair and equitable play for all participants;
c) Organise a competitive network of tournaments sanctioned by the association; and
d) Formulate a uniform system throughout the world.
Players were required to join the WTPA for a nominal yearly fee and membership grew rapidly under the directorship of Ron Hastings. The first "Grand Prix Circuit" was established in 1981 consisting of a series of four major events in different cities across the USA, culminating in the US Open in October. Many other smaller events were taking place across the USA at local level.
The first NFWT Junior Sports Camp was staged in Easter 1981 and attracted 30 participants from the local area. Brad Parks wrote the first instructional booklet on wheelchair tennis entitled "Tennis in a Wheelchair", which was produced by the NFWT to distribute at the ever expanding programme of clinics. This publication was republished in 1985 and again in 1987 and 1991 by the USTA.
Later the same year, Jean-Pierre Limborg of France visited the USA in search of a lightweight wheelchair from Minnenbraker's factory. He had never played wheelchair tennis before but Minnenbraker invited him to compete in a tournament in Las Vegas. To ease his introduction, Limborg entered the women's division with a borrowed racket but by the end of the event he was so impressed by the play and the atmosphere among the players, he decided to stay in California for four months, competing in six tournaments and becoming the first international competitor to participate in the US Open.
Returning home to Paris later that year, Limborg joined forces with his former tennis teacher Pierre Fusade, who had tried wheelchair tennis while he had been in rehab after his accident in 1979 and together they set about starting a programme to develop wheelchair tennis in Europe. The first wheelchair tennis club opened its doors in Garches later that year.
Graeme Watts started the first wheelchair tennis programme in Sydney, Australia, following clinics by Brad Parks and Jim Worth the previous year.
1982
France became the first country in Europe to put in place a wheelchair tennis programme. Pierre Fusade organised a questionnaire for all the disabled sports clubs across the nation and found that 80 players were potentially interested in starting to play. A series of four tournaments were initiated around the nation and considerable promotion was done to spread the word about wheelchair tennis in Europe. Popular French professional players such as Yannick Noah and Henri Leconte assisted with high profile up-down exhibitions where a wheelchair tennis player teamed up with an able-bodied partner.
1983
Players from other European nations started to hear about wheelchair tennis for the first time and the first international tournament was staged in Paris, France called the "Open d'Antony". Among the competitors was Dutch teenager Chantal Vandierendonck, who had been a very talented national tennis player before a car accident had left her a paraplegic earlier that year. She had heard about wheelchair tennis from her Belgian uncle who had seen the French players on television. She was so excited at having the chance to play tennis again, Chantal returned to the Netherlands with her father ready to promote this new sport.
By 1983, the Grand Prix Circuit in the USA had grown to seven nationally sanctioned events, and the US Open.
1984
Meanwhile the US based company, Everest & Jennings - the biggest manufacturer of wheelchairs in the world at the time, became a major sponsor of the NFWT. The expanding circuit in the USA now included ten events and became known as the Everest & Jennings Grand Prix Circuit.
A major article was published in World Tennis featuring Brad Parks, promoting the game even further. Brad was also honoured on "This is Your Life" television programme in the USA.
Masahiro Sato started the first wheelchair tennis programme in Japan, beginning by translating "Tennis in a Wheelchair" - the NFWT instructional publication into Japanese.
A wheelchair tennis demonstration event was staged at Stoke Mandeveille, England for the first time.
1985
Over 1,500 wheelchair tennis players took part in 40 sanctioned events in the USA alone. The quadriplegic (those players with limited mobility or strength in three or four limbs) and women's divisions were expanding at a phenomenal rate.
An international team competition, the World Team Cup, was established, with six men's teams competing in the inaugural event. It was played in a similar format to the able-bodied Davis Cup and held on the weekend prior to the US Open. Since there were not enough women to stage their own event, the USA played against a combined team of Chantal Vandierendonck from the Netherlands and Martine Picard from France.
Brad and Wendy Parks along with Ron Hastings and Rick Slaughter were invited to attend the first Japan Open, which took place in Fukuoka, staging various clinics in Japan while they were there. Later the same year they completed a tour of Europe conducting clinics in West Germany, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands and participating in the "Open d'Antony" in France.
The NFWT completed production of the first instructional video entitled "Tennis in a Wheelchair".
The European Wheelchair Tennis Federation (EWTF) was formed and set about establishing a set of minimum standards and a network of tournaments in Europe. France, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Israel were members and the first European ranking list was produced later the same year. This laid the basis for the success of the future of European wheelchair tennis players.
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