Shingo Kunieda retired in January 2023 with twenty-eight Grand Slam singles titles and four Paralympic gold medals, having completed a career Golden Slam. No wheelchair player has won more.
What changed around him
When Kunieda started, wheelchair events at the majors were played on outside courts with no broadcast and, at some tournaments, no draw sheet in the printed programme. By the time he finished, wheelchair finals were being played on show courts at all four majors and carried live.
Some of that was administrative. Most of it was that he was, plainly, one of the best players at whichever tournament he entered, and that became difficult to schedule around.
The unfinished part
Prize money remains a fraction of the able-bodied draws. Draw sizes are still small enough that a player outside the top eight has limited access to the majors, which constrains how many careers the sport can support.
The audience arrived. The structure underneath it has moved more slowly, and that is the argument the tour is having now.
