Catch up with Lucy Shuker

We had the pleasure of having a catch up with Lucy Shuker. She filled us in on all the action this year’s US Open Grand Slam in

New York.

For Men’s and Women’s Wheelchair Tennis players, it’s only the top 7 in the world that earn direct qualification into the event. With the 8th place being awarded to a tournament wildcard. Grand Slam events are effectively Masters competitions for wheelchair tennis players and you have to remind yourself that simply qualifying is a great achievement.

As a competitor, we are all there for the same thing – to win. With no easy draws and just the top players in the world you know you have to bring your A game to get anywhere. This year I drew current World No.5 KG Montjane from South Africa. I have had mixed results with her over the last 12 months or so. I knew I had the game to beat her, but I also knew that KG was a strong player and it would be a close fight and that it was. Unfortunately, it ended with a 6-4 6-4 defeat for me.

It was difficult and disappointing three weeks of competition with some tough losses in both singles and doubles events. Tennis is undoubtedly a sport which has many ups and downs and I’ve definitely encountered my fair share of these throughout my career. I love tennis and this in a way is what I love most about the game. The problem solving, the continual challenge of the game, of my disability and of my opponents.

The US Open was a fantastic event to be part of. The USTA did a great job at increasing exposure of wheelchair tennis and of individual players. Several matches were scheduled on Arthur Ashe, Louis Armstrong and other show courts with international TV coverage and live streaming.

They also produced a fantastic series of videos in partnership with Deloitt. You can check out the feature about me including why you should watch wheelchair tennis here – https://youtu.be/jmwmzgNkVBM