Tennis

“They are SO impressive.” – Tennis reporter Blair Henley shares experience of watching specially-abled players in action at Southern Methodist University

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Popular tennis reporter and former tennis player Blair Henley recently visited Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

Blair Henley (Image: Regina Cortina Photography)

Blair Henley played Division I tennis for Rice University and rose to No. 30 in the ITF ranking. She also won the Rice University Female Athlete of the Year honor. The American tennis writer also earned a WTA doubles rank and collected WTA singles points when she played in the ITF circuit during her college days. She has a certification of the highest level from the USPTA.

Henley recently paid a visit to the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. The University held a tennis tournament for athletes who have decreased mobility due to amputations, congenital conditions, etc., and Henley was impressed with the level of tennis on display. Henley shared a video on Twitter from the USA Standing Adaptive Tennis tournament where two players, Nico Basaez and Yusuke Hatano were showing their incredible skills.

Henley tweeted:

“Had the chance to attend the USA Standing Adaptive Tennis tournament at
@SMU
.

The athletes have decreased mobility due to amputations, congenital conditions, etc., and they are SO impressive.

This is Nico Basaez from Chile (vs. Yusuke Hatano of Japan). Amazing.
@USTATexas”

Related Post

Blair Henley also shares a video of junior competitors in action at the event

The grown-ups were not the only ones seen in action at Southern Methodist University.

Barbora Krejcikova with Blair Henley at the WTA Finals in 2022 (Image Credit: Blair Henley)

In a follow-up tweet, Blair Henley posted a video of four youngsters playing doubles. One of the four youngsters who wins a point during the video is a 15-year-old kid named Will Butts.

“The event also had some junior competitors. This is 15-year-old Will Butts with the volley winner.

To learn more about standing adaptive tennis, here’s a short history from one of the pioneers of this category

@MrBourns: https://jeffbourns.com/2019/09/adaptive-standing-tennis-in-the-united-states/

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