ITF

UNFINISHED Rewind 12 months and perennial podium- topper Shingo Kunieda was contemplating a year like no other after ending his Grand Slam-winning drought by sealing a 10th Australian Open men's wheelchair singles title. Even for someone as box office as Kunieda, who has won the sheer volume of silverware he has during a trophy-laden career, the potential for a Golden Slam – uncharted territory in wheelchair tennis – was mind- blowing. The overriding clincher, if there needed to be one, was the golden strand of the achievement would be completed at a home Paralympic Games and in Tokyo – the city of his birth. The script had been well and truly written. But while the ending has invariably been glorious, the actual course to the Paralympics has rarely run smoothly for the 37-year-old, with serious elbow injuries blighting the build-up to both the 2012 and 2016 Games. There was disruption and uncertainty this time around as well but for altogether different reasons. Once the Covid-19 pandemic began to bite, thoughts of the Games became somewhat distant and their inevitable postponement came as little surprise. With the Paralympics rescheduled for this year and set to take place on 24 August-5 September, any mention of Kunieda once again sees the conversation swerve to the prospect of him and compatriot Yui Kamiji triumphing in front of an expectant home nation. While defeat to Great Britain's Alfie Hewett in the semi-finals at February's Australian Open ended any Golden Slam talk, the world No. 1 knows the level of expectation upon him. However, it is a focus and pressure which he appears prepared for and at ease with. "Winning a gold medal in Tokyo is the biggest goal. Even though I have three medals from past Paralympics, gold in Tokyo would be so special and mean so much to me," Kunieda told ITFWorld. "Competing at the Paralympics in my home country, in front of my home nation and hopefully a home crowd, this is definitely a once in a lifetime event. How lucky am I? I look forward to showing the people of Japan what I can do. "It is also the biggest opportunity to showcase wheelchair tennis. I can't imagine how the pressure is going to be but I look forward to it. I want to perform beyond the expectations which people have for me." The Paralympics have been a hugely significant chapter in the Kunieda story. He is a three-time Paralympic champion and the only player to have ever retained the men's singles title, having won at both Beijing and London in 2008 and 2012 respectively. His maiden gold arrived at the Athens Games in 2004 when partnering Satoshi Saida Kunieda has three Paralympic gold medals to his name, most recently from the 2012 Games in London 20 Spring 2021 ITF World BUSINESS With the rescheduled Paralympic Games on the horizon, Japan's Shingo Kunieda considers success on home soil, exorcising the ghost of Rio and changing perceptions of disabled people WATC H M O R E

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