On the very day that Dutchman Sam Schroder booked his airline ticket to England for the 2017 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters in Loughborough, he received news that would turn his world upside down.

He had only just celebrated his 18th birthday but Schroder was diagnosed with colon cancer – a destabilising and terrifying revelation for anyone, let alone a teenager who had already overcome considerable hurdles in his life.

Schroder endured a draining five-week period of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and required the use of a feeding tube, before undergoing surgery in March 2018 to have his colon removed. Consequently, he has a permanent stoma.

Remarkably, a matter of months later he was back on court and competing once more, while fast-forward to September of this year and not only did he make his Grand Slam debut in New York but was crowned US Open quad champion. It is a truly astonishing tale.

“Even though I am the one who has lived it, I look back and it is an incredible story,” Schroder, who is currently working his way through the Netflix series Modern Family, told ITFWorld.

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