AO rewind: Taylor and Wagner  anchor Melbourne's Quad history

Americans Nick Taylor and David Wagner have rewritten Quad wheelchair tennis records for the better part of two decades, and success on the other side of the world has been integral in their story. 

Though the wheelchair event began at the Australian Open in 2002 with men’s and women’s singles events and doubles was added two years later, the Quad division did not debut in Melbourne until 2008. Nonetheless, Taylor and Wagner quickly made up for lost time at the turn of the last decade.

After winning the doubles title at the US Open in the summer of 2007 — the first of 11 Grand Slam titles together to date — the pair earned the first Australian Open Quad doubles title in history with a 5-7, 6-0, 10-3 win over Sarah Hunter and Peter Norfolk in the final. They went on to win the Quad doubles titles in 2009, 2010 and 2013, while also reaching the final in 2011. 

Having added three Quad singles titles Down Under in 2011 and 2013-14, Wagner ranks third all-time in singles triumphs at the tournament since its inception. He also went on to win four more trophies from 2014 to 2017 alongside Great Britain's Andrew Lapthorne (2014-15, 2017) and South Africa's Lucas Sithole (2016).

Check out Taylor and Wagner's best moments from the Australian Opens gone by in the gallery below. Story continues below the gallery.

While they will not be playing together at this year’s event, the American pair are primed to be a part of more history for the sport in 2021, as two of the eight players in Melbourne’s newly-expanded Quad tournament. This year’s Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slams to offer a Quad wheelchair draw that is the same size as its men’s and women’s counterparts.

The American duo is part of a wheelchair contingent that will compete in three events total during the Australian summer. The Victorian Wheelchair Open and the Melbourne Open will take place ahead of the Australian Open at the Hume Tennis Center in Craigieburn, north of Melbourne. 

These events will be played from Feb. 3-6 and Feb. 8-11, respectively, before the 2021 Australian Open wheelchair competition runs from Feb. 14-17.

More from USTA.com's Australian Open retrospective:

Australian Open "On This Day"

Nick Taylor, David Wagner anchor U.S. quad history

Andy Roddick, Lindsay Davenport among former junior champions

Bryans, Williams sisters, Navratilova highlight doubles success