Tennis

Japanese Wheelchair Tennis Star Kunieda to Retire

Reuters file photo
Japan’s Shingo Kunieda celebrates with trophy after winning the men’s wheelchair final against Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez on June, 2022.

Jiji Press

17:07 JST, January 22, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Wheelchair tennis star Shingo Kunieda, who tops the world rankings, said on Sunday that he will retire from competition.

“I’ve made the decision as I came to feel strongly that I have done enough,” the 38-year-old said on Twitter. “I’ve had a marvelous life as a wheelchair tennis player.”

Kunieda will hold a press conference on Feb. 7.

He is the world’s first male wheelchair tennis player who has completed a career Golden Slam of all four Grand Slam tournaments and the Paralympics.

According to the International Tennis Federation, Kunieda won a Grand Slam tournament 28 times in singles and 22 times in doubles.

He earned three Paralympic singles gold medals — one in Beijing in 2008, another in London in 2012 and the other in Tokyo 2021. He also received a doubles medal in Athens in 2004.

Last year, Kunieda won Wimbledon, one of the four major tournaments, for the first time, thus achieving the Golden Slam.

He said on Twitter that he started to think about retirement after the Tokyo Paralympics, for which he served as captain of the Japanese delegation.