Dana Mathewson

Started: She began playing wheelchair tennis at age 10. (tennis.com, 04 Sep 2019) Reason: Her mother encouraged her to attend a wheelchair tennis camp that featured US wheelchair tennis player Karin Korb. "My mum had us play tennis sometimes just to get us out of the house during the summer, but I never really took to it. I didn't dislike it, but it was never really like, 'This is what I want to do'. For some reason after I got injured and I went to that camp, things changed. Maybe, I think tennis is more fun in a wheelchair, I'm not really sure. [Karin Korb] was strong and beautiful and she came up to me and I was in awe of her, she had this presence. I never knew you could be all of that in a wheelchair." (itftennis.com, 06 Sep 2023; usopen.org, 06 Sep 2019; tennis.com, 04 Sep 2019) Ambition: She wants to work in a corporate role with the United States Tennis Association [USTA] after she retires from playing. (tennis.com, 05 Sep 2023) Milestones: In 2022 she became the first female wheelchair tennis player representing the United States of America to win a Grand Slam title when she and her Japanese partner Yui Kamiji claimed the women's wheelchair doubles title at Wimbledon in England. (usta.com, 14 Nov 2023; itftennis.com, 06 Sep 2023; SportsDeskOnline, 11 Dec 2023) Awards: She and judoka Ben Goodrich were flag bearers for the United States of America at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile. (usta.com, 26 Nov 2023; USTA Instagram profile, 18 Nov 2023) Additional Info: RETIREMENT PLANS She plans to retire from wheelchair tennis after competing at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. "I'm a very sentimental person, and so I'm sure next year around this time [speaking in September 2023] at the Paralympics I'll be thinking, 'This is the last serve I'll ever hit', and lots of things like that. I wouldn't say I've had zero second thoughts, but more about things I'm really going to miss. Why I want to stop has nothing to do with tennis. I love competing, I love tennis, it's just the lifestyle I'm ready to hang up. I've actually been in talks with the USTA [United States Tennis Association] considering that I might want to stay in tennis, but in the corporate side of tennis. I think that is really attractive to me now. But I will always have a doctorate [in audiology] in the back of my pocket, just in case." (itftennis.com, 06 Sep 2023; tennis.com, 05 Sep 2023; usopen.org, 05 Sep 2023) MOVE TO ORLANDO In early 2020 she relocated from San Diego, California, to Orlando, Florida, to train at the United States Tennis Association [USTA] National Campus. "Before moving to Orlando, I had done a lot of training on my own. I didn't really have a coach. It was like doing geometry without learning algebra. At the national centre, they broke down my game and built it up again. I went through a regimented gym programme and built up my mental skills. This changed me as an athlete into a much better one, one who is a lot more fit." (Tennis Channel YouTube channel, 20 Oct 2023; forbes.com, 17 Sep 2022; theguardian.com, 23 Aug 2021; usta.com, 12 May 2021) BREAK AND RETURN She quit tennis for nearly four years to focus on her studies before returning to the sport about a year before the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. "It was the best decision I could have made because when I went back to tennis, it was because I knew I wanted to do it, not just because I'd been playing my whole life. When you introduce yourself to people, saying that you're an athlete comes up pretty quickly, and that's just because it's a way that we identify ourselves. After I quit, there was nothing for me to say in that respect. I could say I was a student, I was this, I was that, but it wasn't the same and I think I really missed that part of myself." (forbes.com, 17 Sep 2022; teamusa.com, 24 Jun 2021; usta.com, 12 May 2021) FURTHER EDUCATION She has studied for both a doctorate and a master's degree in clinical audiology at University College London in England. She previously studied speech and hearing science at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ, United States of America. (Facebook profile, 18 Oct 2023; tennis.com, 06 Sep 2023; theguardian.com, 23 Aug 2021; Instagram profile, 19 Apr 2021; thehartford.com, 20 Apr 2019)