Esther Vergeer Receives ITF Award for Services to Tennis
Esther Vergeer, the wheelchair tennis legend, has received the ITF Award for Services to the Game during the Annual Congress of tennis association KNLTB (Koninklijke Nederlandse Lawn Tennis Bond (that is the Dutch Tennis Association) in Nieuwegein.
During the ceremony, Erik Poel, general manager of the KNLTB, commented, "You are a great inspiration for all disabled athletes and specifically for wheelchair tennis players. And with the Esther Vergeer Foundation, you give children and young people a chance to exercise, which gives them more confidence and strengthens society."
Vergeer said she was honored to receive the award. "Tennis is in my heart. It's great that it is appreciated in this way. ” Vergeer was the ITF World Champion for wheelchair tennis for thirteen years in a row and was No. 1 in the rankings continuously between April 1999 and January 2013.
Combining singles and doubles, she has won 48 Grand Slam tournaments, 23 year-end championships and 7 Paralympics titles. She went undefeated in singles matches from January 2003 till her retirement - ending her career on a winning streak of 470 matches.
Vergeer has also been nominated six times for the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability, winning it twice, in 2002 and 2008. During her career, she won 162 singles and 134 doubles titles at international tournaments. Her overall record is 695 wins and 25 losses in singles, and 441 wins and 35 losses in doubles.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2rmdrBT
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