'No feeling, no power': Spaargaren living Paralympic dream after scare
Whatever happens from here, by reaching the quarter-finals of the Paris 2024 men’s singles, Ruben Spaargaren of Netherlands has already achieved his best showing at a Paralympic Games.
The 25-year-old surged through to the last eight following a 6-4 6-1 triumph over home favourite Gaeten Menguy on Court Philippe Chatrier and will now face world No. 1 Alfie Hewett of Great Britian for a place in the semis.
However, his presence here comes against the backdrop of a worrying health condition last year which put his participation at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event in serious doubt. Spaargaren takes up the story.
“The reason I’m in a wheelchair is because I had a bleeding in my spine 15 years ago,” said Spaargaren. “Last October, I had a new bleeding in the neck which damaged the nerves again.
“I had less power in the legs – less feeling – the core was damaged as well, and the left arm too. I was out of the game for two or three months not knowing what was going to happen.
“As I say, the moment it happened, I just lost full control of my legs, the core as well. There was no power in my left arm – and no movement either. I didn’t know what to expect, but at the end of last year, things started to improve.
“It took me a lot of hard work to get back to where I am now, so for me it’s just a pleasure being here. Last year, I couldn’t even think about the Paralympic Games and that makes reaching quarter-finals a little more special. I am healthy and here playing.
“Everything is good now. I do have some extra loss of movement and feeling in the legs. The core is back to where it was. It’s not affecting me on the court at the moment.
“There’s been times when I was like, ‘okay, this is it’ and you start to think, ‘what now?’. In the end, health is the most important thing, so I’m just happy I got back to playing. The body is feeling good now. I hope it stays like this.”
It is great to see Spaargaren back to full fitness and he is certainly making the most of it, starring as he is on the biggest wheelchair tennis stage of all.