Team USA at the  Tokyo Paralympics: Preview

Team USA has touched down in Tokyo ahead of the 2020 Paralympic Games, with the tennis competition set to begin Friday in Japan (Thursday evening in the U.S.). Seven Americans, including two first-time Paralympians, make up the traveling contingent, and they will compete in the men's, women's and quad events. 

With the Games postponed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Paralympic veterans David Wagner, Bryan Barten, Shelby Baron, Emmy Kaiser and Dana Mathewson and first-timers Casey Ratzlaff and Conner Stroud will head to the Games with the hopes of adding to Team USA's all-time tennis medal haul, which stands at 19. That figure is second only to the Dutch, who've won 38.

Team USA women

The women’s squad is all about experience: Baron, Kaiser and Mathewson have combined for seven Paralympic nominations dating back to London in 2012. Kaiser leads the list as she's headed to her third Paralympics, while Baron and Mathewson both made their debuts in Rio five years ago. Whether it's their second or third, though, the designation "Paralympian" remains just as special as it was the first time.

"Playing in a Games is huge," Mathewson said earlier this year. "Any time you get to wear USA on your back, for me, that motivates me more. I feel like I'm not just playing for me, I'm playing for something bigger and I find that really motivating. Tennis has the [Grand] Slams and those are arguably seen as more important, depending on who you ask, but in terms of disabled sport or adaptive sports, the Paralympics are the pinnacle of what you can reach.

"Being able to say that you're participating in that alone is a big accomplishment and something I'm proud of."

While Mathewson has been the top-ranked American woman on the ITF/UNIQLO World Tour for much of the past Paralympic cycle, Baron and Kaiser have taken very different paths to Tokyo in their pursuits to qualify. Health issues saw Kaiser sidelined from Ocotober of 2016 through March of 2018, and she finished a master's degree in sports psychology. A four-time collegiate national champion, Baron finished her bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Hawaii - Manoa and the University of Alabama, respectively, and started coaching the Crimson Tide. She also is an active USTA volunteer who serves on several committees, and is the chair of the USTA's collegiate wheelchair subcommittee.

"Last time [in Rio], I definitely was not prepared to go. I got a wild card and it was kind of a surprise. I was excited to be there, but this time, I spent the better part of my five years preparing and trying to qualify. I put a lot of things on hold in my life with my job and all these things, so it was a lot more stressful," Baron said.

"It was never a guarantee for me to make it. A lot of it was out of my hands, and especially when COVID hit... it was definitely hard to keep motivated. I had to talk to a sports psychologist about learning how to deal with things like that. It all worked out in the end, so I'm really happy, relieved and ready to play.

"Tennis-wise, I've been working very hard and at a different training level. I've come to the USTA National Campus in Orlando a lot of times for a few training camps to get prepared. Since it was a surprise for me last time around, I was just enjoying my time there and the environment, but now that I've gotten that out of my system, I want to see what I can do. Win or lose, I don't want to have many regrets."

Kaiser qualified by virtue of her singles ranking of world No. 27, while Baron, No. 31, was a Bipartite Committee selection to the women's field.

"The goal for me was to get there. After my time off, I had to start from scratch with my ranking. I had some fun with it, and this time, it's definitely more about having fun with it," Kaiser said. "It was nice to know that a lot of people on tour told me that they missed me. I'm also a coach back home, so it was nice to be able to get back on court that way. I haven't really been somebody that struggled to have motivation, and I think it's one of those things that's natural for me as an athlete. I didn't really need an extra reason [qualifying for Tokyo] to get back to it. It's my lifestyle, so it was just nice to get back to normal for me."

All three women will compete in singles, while Baron and Mathewson will also play doubles together. The pair have combined to win 32 doubles titles on the ITF/UNIQLO World Tennis Tour, but have never lifted a trophy together.

Team USA men

The men's quartet consists of two debutants in the open division - Casey Ratzlaff and Conner Stroud - and two veterans in the quads, Bryan Barten and David Wagner. Wagner is competing in his fifth Paralympics and is chasing medals in both singles and doubles. His career medal haul is at a stunning eight, including three golds in doubles in 2004, 2008 and 2012. 

"It's an honor to play at my fifth Paralympics and represent the USA," Wagner said. "I have always enjoyed competing at the highest level, especially when I get to represent my country."

He'll be joined in the quad singles draw and on the doubles court by Barten, who's competing in his third Paralympics. The 47-year-old Barten won his first singles title in over a year in Loughborough, Great Britain in March, which he called "a key win" in his cause to qualify for Tokyo. The world No. 10 adds that the hiatus of professional tennis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic last year allowed him to heal some nagging injuries and fine-tune his tennis. 

"That was a key win and I really needed that," Barten said. "I'm just really excited. It's been a lot of hard work. I've never worked this hard in my career and it's just really rewarding to be on this team... I was able to zone in on some things in the COVID downtime. I was able to make some of my shots a little stronger. I think my serve is a little better today than it was a year-and-a-half ago. Everything has just tightened up a little bit, and I like where I'm at right now."

Set to turn 23 in two weeks, Ratzlaff and 21-year-old Stroud will both be living a childhood dream in Tokyo as they play singles and partner in doubles. The youngest of the Team USA contingent, both players are not new to donning the red, white and blue in international competition, having been members of both the junior and professional U.S. World Team Cup teams.

That experience, combined with having access to their decorated compatriots, has the two rookies more than ready for what's to come.

"I'm really excited to take it on, but more importantly, to enjoy the Paralympic experience for what it is," Ratzlaff said. "It's another huge milestone for me in my career. It's been something that I've been working hard for since I got into this sport, and it's the culmination of the hard work done that's gone into developing me as a player by my team and me."

"To learn the ins and outs from the more experienced players... it's nice knowing that they've been there and done it, and that I can rely on them to guide me through some of the things I need," Stroud added. "The team aspect is really nice, too, since we don't really get it in tennis all the time. This is one event where we can all come together and lift each other up, and help each other play our best tennis." 

The Paralympic opening ceremony took place on Tuesday in Tokyo, with the full U.S. team in attendance. Tennis players Stefan Olsson (Sweden), Kgothatso Montjane (South Africa) and Stephane Houdet (France) served as flag-bearers, while Japan's Yui Kamiji lit the Paralympic torch. TV coverage of the Games will be provided by NBC. For complete schedule, results and more, visit the official Paralympic tennis homepage.