Sportable River City Slam Wheelchair Tennis Tournament Returns to RVA this Weekend, June 6-9

RICHMOND, VA – (Tuesday, June 4, 2024) – Sportable, Central Virginia’s premier adaptive sports club, is proud to host the River City Slam Wheelchair Tennis Tournament presented by VAMAC June 6-9, 2024. The United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Level 1 and International Tennis Federation (ITF) Futures Series tournament will feature 70 wheelchair tennis players from 22 states and five countries at Collegiate School’s Robins Campus.

“We are thrilled to host the fourth annual River City Slam Wheelchair Tennis Tournament,” commented Hunter Leemon, Sportable Chief Executive Officer. “We are grateful to VAMAC and many other generous sponsors and partners who are creating opportunities for individuals with disabilities to compete at this level. I strongly encourage everyone in our community to stop by Collegiate’s Robins Campus this weekend to watch some truly outstanding wheelchair tennis right here in RVA.”

Seventy players from 22 states spanning California to Virginia and five countries including Australia, Austria, and Peru will compete in USTA divisions A, B, C, D, and Juniors and ITF divisions Men's Open, Women's Open, Quad Open, and Juniors. 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 across 40 countries in the professional UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour.

The ITF Futures Series event begins at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 6 and will be headlined by the country’s top junior players Charlie Cooper, Tomas Majetic, and Max Wong and professional players Jason Keatseangslip and Conner Stroud. The five players recently represented Team USA at the flagship international wheelchair tennis competition, the BNP Paribas World Team Cup, in Turkey. The U.S. juniors were crowned World Team Cup champions for the first time in seven years.

USTA Divisions will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, June 7 and will feature local players Ryan Beale (ITF Quad Open), Will Biringer (USTA Coed D), Wyatt Brady (USTA Coed 18 & Under), Chris Lamps (USTA Coed B), and Marc Miller (USTA Coed C) who will represent the host club, Sportable. Matches will continue at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 8 before concluding with championship matches on Sunday, June 9.

The full weekend schedule is available at Sportable.org. Spectators are welcome free of charge.

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.