ITF

ITF World Summer 2021 23 After completing her calendar Grand Slam of doubles titles alongside Japan's Yui Kamiji in 2014, Jordanne Whiley's coach, partner and future fiancée, Marc McCarroll, built a trophy cabinet for her to house an ever-mounting haul of accolades. Over the years, however, her silverware collection has expanded to the extent that space is now very much at a premium. With Paralympic gold up for grabs in the coming weeks, Whiley is aware that some emergency DIY may be required. "My trophy cabinet's bulging at the seams with Grand Slam titles, my MBE and my Paralympic medals," Whiley, who has a tattoo which translates from Japanese as "unprecedented" to mark her achievements with best friend and bridesmaid-to-be Kamiji, told ITFWorld. "I cannot fit 13 Grand Slam trophies inside, so I need an extension. It was organised at one stage but now it is a case of fitting whatever, wherever – it's a bit like Tetris." Make no mistake, should Whiley top the podium in Tokyo and seal what could prove a golden farewell from the sport which has been her life for so long, that accomplishment would stand alone and take pride of place. After all, the Paralympic Games are in her blood after growing up with the inspiration of her father, Keith, winning bronze in the men's 100m L3 athletics event at the 1984 Games in New York. She also has a proud Paralympic backstory of her own, which includes both triumph and tragedy, having made her debut at the 2008 Games in Beijing as a 16-year-old before competing at both London and Rio de Janeiro. Now 29, Whiley is aware that opportunity knocks, and she retains an unshakeable belief that she possesses the ability to better the bronze medals she achieved alongside fellow Brit Lucy Shuker during the last two Paralympic instalments. "I always knew that I wanted to contest the Paralympics because my dad had a bronze medal and I wanted to beat that," she said. "But it wasn't until I was about 15 that I thought, realistically, I could do that. "I also remember Peter Norfolk bringing his gold medal from Athens to a camp I was attending and me thinking, 'I'd quite like one of those'. Ever since, a gold medal is all I've ever wanted. "I have done three Paralympic Games but never been on the singles podium and have never done better than a bronze in doubles, so gold is the only thing I don't have in my trophy cabinet. It would literally complete my career and my life." When asked to imagine herself with a gold medal around her neck, listening to the national anthem as the flag of Great Britain is raised, Whiley concedes she would be "a mess". However, there is a deeper consideration for Birmingham-born Whiley following the heartbreak of Rio five years ago when she felt primed to be among the thoroughbreds of the winners' enclosure only to be struck down by injury. Despite suffering a stress fracture to her wrist, she still claimed another bronze with Shuker, but it was far removed from what she was hoping for or expecting and had far-reaching repercussions. Such anguish prompted Whiley to take a break from tennis. "It was tough because I went into Rio as one of the favourites and in a really good position, so to break my wrist and just not have a very good time was not great," added Whiley, who, in 2016, was ranked No. 3 in the world. "I definitely felt I was in the form to beat Diede [de Groot] in the quarter-finals and had beaten her a couple of months earlier. At that point, I was beating the likes of Yui, Aniek [Van Koot] and Jiske [Griffioen]. I was basically beating everyone. "Unfortunately, it wasn't my finest hour and I have often said that Rio was like a really bad break up. It probably took me a year to process it and accept what had happened. At that stage, I knew that I needed to take some sort of break." As such, Whiley embarked upon a sabbatical at the end of the 2016 campaign, although there were still fleeting appearances at Wimbledon and Roland Garros the following year. Indeed, she won the 2017 wheelchair women's doubles title at SW19 alongside Kamiji while 11 weeks pregnant, drawing parallels with Serena Williams who had conquered all at the Australian Open only months earlier while pregnant. Whiley gave birth to her son, Jackson, in early 2018 and it appeared as though life was moving in a different direction and beyond tennis, with a realistic possibility emerging that her on-court career may be consigned to history. But her competitive edge was to rear its head once more and while in the commentary box, summarising the 2018 wheelchair tennis event at Wimbledon, the die became cast. "I felt like I could still compete with the girls and I missed competing, so I went home Below Whiley has always taken great pride in represen ng Great Britain. Here she is with Lucy Shuker a er winning bronze at London 2012 while, below, compe ng at the 2019 BNP Paribas World Team Cup

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