She was the flag carrier for Japan at the Rio 2016 Paralympics. Now, Yui Kamiji wants to be the standard bearer for disability access in her home country. 

After winning a single-set exhibition match on the Colosseum show court, Kamiji gave positive feedback as she led ITF officials around a new-look Ariake Tennis Park during the Tokyo 2020 test event back in October. 

“It all looks very good, I like it — when I played in the World Team Cup here (in 2016), there were many problems for us, like many stairs, and it took a long time to get around to the toilets and courts, but they’ve changed many things,” said the world No. 2 wheelchair tennis star. 

“It’s much better now and I’m already excited about playing here — not too much because it’s still a way off, but like today I can feel, ‘Oh i can play on that court that we’ll use next year’, and get a bit more excited — but slowly the anticipation is building up and I can prepare for the Paralympics. 

“It’s like a very Japanese style of doing things — the organisers care about many details, and they ask me and some other wheelchair players many questions about what we need, and they try to improve more — they want to make people feel welcome.” 

The 10,000-capacity Colosseum show court, along with Court Nos. 1 and 2, will hold the vast majority of the 20,000 or so that the site can accommodate.  

And the 25-year-old believes the revamped venue can help kick-start a social revolution, which she’s eager to lead, in a country where attitudes towards — and facilities for — the disabled lag those in the West. 

“Many people will be able to watch us — that’s the point. Before, it was like mainly a few tennis people who came but now they have opened up the park and new facilities, and now access is easier for wheelchairs — I think many people will want to come here,” said the world No.2. 

“In Japan, some disabled people still want to stay inside but now I think is the time to change their mind because the Paralympics are coming next year — I like to keep saying that everyone can use everything. 

“Many years before, when we tried to go out out to places, some areas didn't have elevators and there were no assistants to help, so we couldn’t go out.  

“Now facilities are changing but these people don’t know that, so if they go out to the Paralympics they can see it for themselves, then maybe they will want to go out more than before. And the government needs to show disabled people how facilities and buildings have changed across the city, such as office buildings, malls and train stations.” 

Kamiji has won six Grand Slam singles titles — 3 times at Roland Garros, two US Opens and an Australian Open — is the current Masters champion, and picked up bronze in Rio after leading the Japan team into Maracana Stadium for the opening ceremony.  

She was  the first Japanese to qualify for next year’s Olympics or Paralympics when winning singles gold at the Asian Para Games in Indonesia, in 2018, and is one of the most instantly recognisable para-athletes in Japan. A big home crowd will be expecting big things. No pressure then…actually, apparently not. 

“I really wanted gold in Rio, so now I want it even more, but I don’t really have much pressure because here is my home. I live in Osaka, but my friends will come to watch me, and I’ll hear them and other people shouting for me in Japanese, so that will encourage me to do better.  

“I’m not feeling like, ‘Oh I need to do it’, I feel relaxed and focused on performance, and tactics, and getting better. I feel like I have more time to prepare — before, I felt like I needed to keep my ranking high, but this time I have no pressure on that score because I already qualified.” 

August is notoriously hot and sticky in Tokyo, with daytime temperatures often well above 30 degrees Celsius, and midnight bringing little respite on the thermometer. 

“We practice in that month every year and try using some ice towel or some other things to cool down before a match. I’ve tried many things but this kind of heat seems special to Japan — very hot and very humid — and I never felt this in other hot countries, so there’s only so much you can do.” 

Actually, you get the feeling that there’s much more that Yui Kamiji can — and will — do, on and off the court…