Team USA Wheelchair Tennis Players Slated to Appear at the Sportable River City Slam June 6-9 in Richmond
RICHMOND, VA – (Wednesday, May 8, 2024) – Sportable, Central Virginia’s premier adaptive sports club, is proud to announce five Team USA wheelchair tennis players are slated to appear at the River City Slam Wheelchair Tennis Tournament June 6-9, 2024 at Collegiate School’s Robins Campus.
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Level 1 and International Tennis Federation (IFT) Futures Series Tournament will feature the country’s top junior players Charlie Cooper, Tomas Majetic, and Max Wong and professional players Jason Keatseangslip and Conner Stroud. The five players are currently representing Team USA at the flagship international wheelchair tennis competition, the BNP Paribas World Team Cup, in Turkey this week, May 7-12.
Cooper, 16, recently cracked the Top 5 in the boys' international rankings, while Wong is the reigning USTA junior and senior national champion. Cooper, Majetic, and Wong were all members of the U.S. team that finished runner-up in the competition 12 months ago, which marked the Americans' best finish since its juniors won three straight titles from 2015-17.
In the pro ranks two years ago, the U.S. men's team including Keatseangslip and Stroud earned the U.S.'s best finish (fourth) in nearly two decades. The duo is a formidable doubles team; the pair have won 12 titles together, including six in 2023.
Promoted to a USTA Level 1 tournament in its fourth year, the River City Slam will offer the most competitive atmosphere for wheelchair tennis players to participate at the national level. Simultaneously, the River City Slam will include an ITF Futures Series event, as one of 160 tournaments spanning 40 countries in the professional UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour. The River City Slam Juniors Division is once again designated as one of only six USTA Wheelchair Junior Tournament Series events in the country. The USTA Wheelchair Junior Tournament Series is a group of nationally-ranked tournaments focused on providing level-based play opportunities for junior wheelchair tennis players.
“As a national Level 1 and international Futures Series wheelchair tennis tournament, we are thrilled that the River City Slam is attracting the country’s top talent,” commented Hunter Leemon, Sportable Chief Executive Officer. “The new sanctioning is a testament to the success and growth of this event over the last three years. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to host a high level of competition for some of the top wheelchair tennis players in the country – and in the world – right here in Virginia. We encourage the RVA community to save the date for this prestigious event.”
The River City Slam is open to all levels, including first-time players, in USTA divisions A, B, C, D, Quad Open, and Juniors and ITF divisions Men's Open, Women's Open, Quad Open, Junior Boys and Junior Girls and will offer over $5,000 in prize money. Over the last three years, the tournament has attracted more than 100 players from 26 states spanning California to Virginia.
The River City Slam ITF entry deadline is Thursday, May 9 while the USTA entry closes May 29. Registration is available now at Sportable.org.
About Wheelchair Tennis
One of the fastest growing wheelchair sports in the world, wheelchair tennis is played on a standard tennis court in the same way as able-bodied tennis, with the only exception being that a wheelchair tennis player is allowed two bounces of the ball. The athlete’s wheelchair is considered to be a part of the body, so rules applying to the player’s body apply to the chair as well. Wheelchair tennis has been part of the Paralympic Games since 1992 and has been played at all four Grand Slams since 2007.