Roland Garros: Quad events included

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) has confirmed that quad singles and doubles wheelchair tennis events will be included in the 2019 competition schedule at Roland Garros. They will feature four of the world’s top-ranked quad players.

The announcement means that quad singles and doubles events will now join men’s and women’s singles and doubles events on the schedule at all four Grand Slam tournaments.

This follows the announcement made by the All England Club in November that quad events would be held at Wimbledon from 2019 onwards. The new events will also form part of the Wheelchair Tennis Tour and will offer ranking points to participants.

Australian Dylan Alcott currently leads the quad singles world rankings, followed by USA’s David Wagner, Great Britain’s Andy Lapthorne and Japan’s Koji Sugeno.

“We are delighted to introduce a quad wheelchair tennis event at Roland Garros from 2019 and look forward to welcoming the division’s elite players onto the clay courts alongside the competitors for the men’s and women’s divisions,” Jean-Pierre Limborg, elected to the Higher Council of the FFT, said.

Players are eligible to compete in the wheelchair tennis quad division if they have a permanent physical disability that results in substantial loss of function in three or more extremities and that fulfils the sport’s Minimum Impairment Criteria.

Wheelchair tennis has been played at all four Grand Slams since 2007.

In the first Grand Slam of the year, Alcott claimed the singles title for the fifth year in a row beating Wagner in the final. The Aussie star also took the doubles title alongside Heath Davidson.