Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis - Schedule, Results, Medals

Esther Vergeer in action
Esther Vergeer of the Netherlands stretches to get a shot from Sonja Peters in their gold medal match at Beijing 2008. Vergeer competes in the Open class. The Open class is for athletes with an impairment of one or both legs but does not affect their arms or hands.
Peter Norfolk in action
Peter Norfolk of Great Britain in action in the Doubles Quad competition bronze medal match at Beijing 2008. Quad class athletes have an impairment that affects their arms and legs, which limits their ability to handle the racket and to move their wheelchair compared with Open class athletes. Men and women compete together in the Quad events.

The classification rules of the International Federation for Wheelchair Tennis state that athletes with a physical impairment that affects their ability to move around the court and prohibits them to compete equally with able-bodied tennis players are eligible to compete in the sport at the Paralympics.

Classification also groups athletes in classes, defined by the degree to which they are limited in their ability to perform activities within that sport. In Wheelchair Tennis there are two classes, Open and Quad:

Open class is for athletes with an impairment of one or both legs but does not affect their arms or hands.
Quad class athletes have an impairment that affects their arms and legs, which limits their ability to handle the racket and to move their wheelchair compared with Open class athletes. Men and women compete together in the Quad events.

Read an overview of classification at the London 2012 Paralympic Games