Her name may not be as familar as Serena or Venus Williams, but Esther Vergeeris is just as deserving of the title of #1 tennis player as the Williams sisters.
Esther was born in the Netherlands in 1981 and started playing tennis when she was 12 after becoming paraplegic when she was 8 years old due to a risky surgery concerning her spinal cord.
Her list of accomplishments reads like fiction: five time Paralympics tennis champion, eleven time consecutive world-champion, has won numerous Australian Opens, British Opens, French Opens, Japan Opens and US Opens and and has been the world’s top ranked player since 1999 – almost 10 years straight.
Esther has not been beaten in a match in over 5 years making her one of the most dominant athletes – able bodied or otherwise – to ever play the game of tennis.
If you happen to speak Dutch, check out her website or for english only speakers here is a great blog highlighting the achievements of numerous wheelchair athletes.
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