The official draw for the 2024 Paris Paralympics Wheelchair Tennis occasion happened Tuesday morning at Roland-Garros, with Canada’s Rob Shaw drawn to play towards Ymanitu Silva of Brazil within the first spherical of the 16-player quad singles occasion.
Showing in his second Paralympics after making his debut in Tokyo on the 2020 Paralympic Video games, Shaw is at the moment ranked No. 8 within the quad class.
Shaw final confronted Silva within the 2023 Parapan American Video games semifinal in Santiago the place he secured a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 victory. The winner of their upcoming match will advance into the quarter-final to face both second seed Niels Vink of the Netherlands or Lucas Sithole of South Africa. Shaw’s document on pink clay this yr is powerful, with a powerful 11 wins and solely three losses.
“There are positively no surprises between me and my opponent,” mentioned Shaw. “We’ve performed a number of instances collectively and we each began our doubles careers collectively as companions. I don’t suppose we’ve performed since Santiago however that was a troublesome three-set match so I’m anticipating one thing comparable on the thirty first. Total, I feel it is going to be an entertaining match and so long as I play properly like I’ve been, I’m assured I can come out on high.”
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He has captured two singles titles to this point in 2024, successful back-to-back tournaments on the Swiss Open in Geneva, an ITF Collection 1 occasion, and the German Open in Berlin (ITF Collection 2) within the quad singles occasions this July. Shaw’s victory on the Swiss Open over Francisco Cayulef of Chile within the ultimate marked his first profession singles title within the ITF Collection 1 circuit.
“I’m wanting ahead to supporting Rob as he competes in his second Paralympic Video games,” mentioned Kai Schrameyer, Nationwide Coach of Wheelchair Tennis for Tennis Canada. “He’s coming into the Video games with momentum after his success in Geneva and Berlin and with a powerful 79% win charge on clay this yr to this point. All of Canada is rooting for him, and I can’t wait to see him give it his all on the courtroom.”
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Canada has but to safe a Paralympic medal in wheelchair tennis, with the closest end result being a fourth-place end in quad doubles by Sarah Hunter and Brian McPhate on the 2004 Athens Video games.
The 2024 Paris Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Occasion takes place from Friday, Aug. 30 to Saturday, Sept. 7, with a complete of 28 nations represented. Throughout six occasions — males’s, ladies’s and quad singles and doubles — there might be 96 athletes competing.
