Wichita native Casey Ratzlaff recently competed in the Wheelchair World Team Cup alongside his fellow American teammates Conner Stroud, Chris Herman and Jason Keatseangsilp. The tournament was hosted in Ramat Hasharon, Israel, May 13-18.

 

Ratzlaff brought in the team’s only win on day one as he took down Austria’s Nico Langmann 6-3, 6-1. He then lost in a tight doubles match with Stroud, ending 1-6, 6-1 (4-10).

 

The Americans lost all matches against the Japanese team but came back the next day to defeat Poland 2-1. Ratzlaff took out Kamil Fabisiak 6-3, 6-0 before winning another doubles match with Stroud in a tough tiebreaker 6-1, 3-6 (10-5).  

 

“That was the best moment, beating the Polish team in a doubles tie breaker,” Ratzlaff said. “The experience was spectacular this year, one of the best years we’ve had, especially in our performance in the tournament itself.”

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Nick Taylor, also of Wichita, competed on the American Quad team alongside Greg Hasterok and Bryan Barten. The men fell 1-2 against Israel with Taylor landing the team’s only win. He defeated Shraga Weinberg 7-5, 6-2.

 

The team then lost 0-3 against Japan before coming back for a win against Brazil 3-0. Barten took down Ymanitu Silva in 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 sets. Taylor beat Augusto Fernandes in singles 6-1, 6-1 before teaming up with Hasterok to claim the doubles match 3-6, 6-3 (10-8).  

 

Ratzlaff and his team finished second in their pool, guaranteeing their qualification for next year’s tournament. He is already looking forward to continuing his training and coming back stronger.

 

“I have a bunch of summer tournaments I am playing throughout Europe, so that’s what’s on the list next for me,” Ratzlaff said. “Just getting ready to take those on with confidence.”