Melbourne VIC, Australia, 14 November 2016 | Tennis Australia

Last weekend saw Melbourne host the 2016 Australian Wheelchair Tennis National Championships at the National Tennis Centre.

Australia’s best wheelchair athletes, including Rio gold medallist Heath Davidson and Paralympian Ben Weekes, battled it out between Friday 11 to Sunday 13 November 2016 for national titles.

For the first time in Australia, the event saw competition across all four wheelchair categories including women’s, men’s, quad and junior events.

Tennis Australia’s National Wheelchair coach Greg Crump was thrilled at the turnout for the event, a reflection, he believes, on our athletes success at the Rio 2016 Paralympic games.

“Having competitors field all four draws across the women’s, men’s, quad and junior categories is a reflection of the changing demographics of wheelchair tennis in Australia,” Crump said.

“Individuals with disabilities are more inspired than ever after the success of tennis at the Paralympics this year. We had five strong Paralympians head over to Rio, and we brought home two Gold medals… It’s been great for the sport.”

The event also saw new participants trying the sport for the first time at a Come & Try wheelchair tennis session run by coaches Greg Crump and Maddy Sanders on the final day of competition.

Congratulations to our new national wheelchair tennis champions:

Men’s: Ben Weekes

Ben Weekes (NSW) d Keegan Oh-Chee (NSW) 6-4 6-0

Women’s: Janine Watson

Janine Watson (QLD)  d Helen Smith (NSW) 6-4 6-2

Quad: Heath Davidson

Heath Davidson (VIC) d Janine Watson (QLD) 4-0 4-0

Juniors: Saalim Naser

Saalim Naser (VIC) d Fernando Joaquin Grez Montiel (SA) 4-1 4-0

Australian National Wheelchair Tennis Championships field

Men’s draw

Women’s draw

Quad draw

Junior draw