2018 Year in Review: Wagner, Taylor win Big

Love-15: As 2018 draws to a close, USTA.com is taking a look back at the top 15 storylines, headlines and highlights from the year in American tennis. Up next, reflecting on Grand Slam champions and Paralympians David Wagner and Nick Taylor’s 11th Doubles Masters crown. 

David Wagner and Nick Taylor are the dream team. The two Team USA professional wheelchair tennis players, who are classified in the quad division, took their 11th UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters title in Bemmel, the Netherlands, in November, defeating the British pairing of Antony Cotterill and Andy Lapthorne, 6-4, 7-6, for the title. 

“It’s a pretty big honor,” Wagner told ITF.com after his win. “We came here to win, like everybody, and we came here with a plan and worked hard for it. As we get older, we’re not stronger, and we’re not faster, so we have to strategize more, and by sticking to our strategy, our game plan is solid and legit, and that’s important.”

Individually, both Wagner and Taylor are decorated tennis players. Wagner has over 1,250 career singles and doubles wins, including three US Open wheelchair competition singles titles and three Australian Open singles championships. Taylor has more than a dozen Grand Slam titles to his name and was ranked in the Top 3 for more than 14 years. 

Wagner and Taylor’s latest title further burnishes the pair’s already incredible legacy. Together, the two have captured three doubles gold medals at the Paralympics: Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. They have also represented the United States multiple times at the World Team Cup, the wheelchair tennis equivalent to Fed Cup and Davis Cup. 

In November 2018, Taylor was honored by the ITF as the recipient of the 2018 UNIQLO Spirit Award, given to someone who embraces challenges in pursuit of the promotion of wheelchair tennis and is admired for their integrity and character. 

“It has to be one of the more remarkable winning records in sports, not just wheelchair tennis,” said Team USA head wheelchair coach Jason Harnett. “David and Nick have proven to be one of the all-time great doubles tandems in all of tennis.”

For more American tennis highlights from 2018, be sure to check out our Year in Review page here.

_{Pictured above: Wagner and Taylor after winning their 11th doubles masters title. Photo courtesy of the ITF.}