When Man Sasson and Sergei Lysov rolled onto the tennis courts on the lately accomplished US Open, they represented the “previous” and newer generations of Israeli wheelchair tennis gamers.
Sasson, 46, has loved a extremely profitable profession competing within the quads division. He gained all 4 Grand Slam doubles tournaments this 12 months and would have accomplished a calendar-year Grand Slam had he additionally gained the US Open.
Lysov, 22, is an up-and-coming participant who competed on the US Open final 12 months and once more this 12 months. He gained the 2024 Israeli Nationwide Wheelchair Tennis Championship and represented Israel on the 2024 Summer season Paralympics in Paris.
And a number of other different younger Israeli wheelchair tennis gamers are coming by the ranks.
However with the rise within the variety of younger, in any other case wholesome Israelis who’ve suffered life-changing accidents within the nation’s current wars, an vital query is rising: Will extra newly disabled Israelis uncover wheelchair tennis and different wheelchair sports activities, and will some ultimately attain the elite ranges achieved by Sasson?
“It’s too quickly to know – the journey from harm to lively sport to aggressive sports activities is an extended journey,” says Boaz Kramer, govt director of the Israel ParaSport Middle in Ramat Gan and himself a wheelchair consumer, two-time Paralympian and silver medalist in quad wheelchair tennis on the 2008 Beijing Video games.
Nonetheless, the numbers recommend extra folks may take part in wheelchair sports activities.
Protection Ministry: Over 26,000 war-wounded troopers sought therapy since begin of Gaza struggle
In July 2026, the Rehabilitation Division on the Protection Ministry reported that roughly 26,200 war-wounded women and men had sought therapy for the reason that struggle started. It’s estimated that there have been 97 amputations for the reason that begin of the struggle.
A few of these injured could uncover the world of wheelchair sports activities and even attain elite ranges like Sasson.
Kramer wish to see injured folks think about collaborating.
“I’m a giant believer in sports activities as a rehabilitation software,” he says.
However Kramer additionally factors to an fascinating, and maybe considerably worrisome, development: wheelchair sports activities have gotten “increasingly aggressive,” one thing he considers a blended blessing.
On one hand, Kramer is happy with how far the game has come.
“Lastly, wheelchair athletes are receiving the popularity, compensation and a focus they deserve,” he says. “Paralympic sport is turning into extra seen, extra enticing and extra commercially viable. Athletes have gotten professionals, occasions are attracting spectators, media are paying consideration, followers are following groups and gamers. After a long time of combating for legitimacy, maybe Paralympic sport is lastly getting there.”
However he additionally sees a draw back.
“However this gradual and regular metamorphosis comes with a value,” Kramer says. “And it raises an vital query that has been sitting on the coronary heart of Paralympic sport since its starting: What’s the goal of Paralympic sport? The competitors? The participation?”
Kramer worries that an excessive amount of focus has gone to competitors and that the game could have “progressively remodeled into an elite sport.”
“It rewards expertise, it rewards coaching, it rewards skilled help, cash, time, entry to amenities, teaching, expertise and complex sports activities science,” he explains. “Whereas doing that, it additionally inevitably leaves folks behind.
“So possibly the way forward for Paralympic sport just isn’t about selecting between participation and excellence. Perhaps it’s about constructing a system by which excellence sits on the high with out swallowing every little thing beneath it. Whereas celebrating the jaw-dropping efficiency of the elite Paralympic sports activities, we should ensure that we always remember why it exists within the first place.”
Kramer, born with arthrogryposis, got here to Israel at 5 years previous
Kramer was born with arthrogryposis, a situation characterised by stiff, curved, or locked joints. He got here to the Israel ParaSport Middle at 5 and performed quite a lot of wheelchair sports activities earlier than ultimately specializing in tennis.
He grew to become a aggressive wheelchair tennis participant, performed on Israel’s nationwide staff for 12 years, and represented the nation on the 2008 Beijing Video games.
From that have, Kramer is aware of that reaching the best ranges of wheelchair tennis might be notably tough for athletes who start utilizing a wheelchair later in life or who didn’t play tennis as youngsters.
For that purpose, he considers Sasson, who has gained all 4 Grand Slam doubles championships prior to now, though falling quick final week in his quest for a 2026 calendar-year Grand Slam, “an exception in some ways.”
Sasson’s harm, the results of a snowboarding accident, occurred throughout maturity. He initially started his aggressive profession within the open division earlier than later being reclassified for the quads division because the extent of his harm progressed.
The truth that the quads division is smaller has additionally meant that Sasson has had larger alternatives for achievement.
Sasson is happy about the potential of new wheelchair athletes becoming a member of the game, however he cautions that taking part in on the elite stage just isn’t for everybody.
“If an athlete needs tennis, it’s not straightforward – it can’t be as a aspect job,” Sasson says.
“If you wish to be on the high tier, you want expertise, self-discipline, consistency, and a mindset. You want the bodily skill and expertise, and it’s a must to do it repeatedly and once more. It’s difficult, and it’s not straightforward, however there are rewards.”
Kramer is delighted by Sasson’s tennis success and his potential calendar Grand Slam, however he views what Sasson represents as one thing a lot larger.
“It isn’t simply an athletic achievement, not nearly tennis – additionally it is about how he represents Israel, partnering with a Dutch athlete,” Kramer says.
Sasson often companions with Niels Vink, 23, of the Netherlands, and collectively the pair have turn into probably the most profitable wheelchair doubles groups on the planet.
Kramer views Sasson’s accomplishments as “a really robust assertion on how Israel is greater than what folks suppose.”
Maybe, in time, extra newly disabled Israelis will uncover wheelchair sports activities. Some could go on to achieve nice heights within the aggressive sports activities world. Others could merely discover a new supply of neighborhood, goal, bodily exercise, and delight.
Each outcomes, in their very own method, may very well be a part of the subsequent chapter of Israeli wheelchair sport.
