Lucy Shuker never looked back when she picked up wheelchair tennis after a motorbike accident (Image: Getty)
Lucy Shuker will be hoping to lift her long-awaited first Grand Slam title at the upcoming .
Once told she was “too disabled” to compete among the world’s top wheelchair players, the current world No. 16 has taken home three Paralympic medals.
She is now bidding to claim her maiden Major trophy after partnering with world No. 2 Yui Kamiji.
Aged 21, Shuker’s life changed when she was involved in a motorbike accident, leaving her paralysed from the chest down. Once a promising badminton player, she discovered wheelchair tennis while in rehabilitation after meeting quad tennis icon Peter Norfolk and has never looked back.
“Just from talking with him just in the shop, I said that I played badminton before my accident so he said, ‘Well, why don’t you try tennis?’” Shuker recalled, speaking to .
“He lent me one of his old tennis chairs and kind of fell in love with the sport. Did it just as a form of rehab, as a form of finding me again, being able to do something.
“Obviously I was newly injured, accepting who I now was. I hated being in a chair when I first had my accident. But being in a tennis chair, it just gave you freedom.
“You feel quite safe because the chair can move well. I could play with family, I could play with friends. And it just grew from there – I became quite good at the sport, and just have never looked back.”
Lucy Shuker was one of GB’s flagbearers at the Paris 2024 Paralympics (Image: Getty)
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Back then, the Tokyo 2020 silver medallist never could have imagined the career she went on to have, especially after being told she wouldn’t make it to the top.
Shuker added: “Didn’t think I would qualify for Paralympics, I was told I was too disabled to compete with the top girls. But I suppose the career that I’ve had has kind of proved that wrong!”
On top of the titles and accolades, wheelchair tennis has also given the 44-year-old a newfound joy. “It’s been huge,” she said.
“I think it’s something that I’ll always be grateful for because, if you put yourself in the same position, you’re 21 years old, and what you’ve known for the first 21 years of your life has suddenly changed in terms of what your body can and can’t do, there are limitations.
“But what more can you do? Every day you’re trying to strive just to deal with getting up, getting out of the bed, finding a bit of joy and tennis gave me a lot of joy.
“And you’re also having to problem solve, you become stronger, your body is adapting. And then it’s given me a career that I never would’ve thought I’d have. I’ve travelled around the world more than I’d have ever imagined, visited places that you wouldn’t think to go to.
“Who would’ve thought that I would’ve been at a Grand Slam alongside some of the legends of tennis that come from the able-bodied game? It’s incredible to think that having had my accident, it’s then given me these opportunities.”
Shuker’s motorbike accident happened in 2002. Just two years later, she narrowly missed out on making the Athens Paralympics, but it showed her that she could go on and be successful.
After spending more than two decades in the sport, Shuker has almost done it all. The Brit won her first Olympic bronze medal on home soil at the London 2012 Games alongside Jordanne Whiley. Together, they won bronze again in Rio 2016 and silver in Tokyo 2020.
But she’s still as motivated as ever to taste Grand Slam glory. Shuker has finished runner-up in the wheelchair doubles event at the four times and, teaming up with a new partner, has her sights set on the trophy.
Lucy Shuker and Yui Kamiji are pairing up again at the Australian Open, looking to go one better (Image: Getty)
“I’m playing with Yui, she won gold [in singles and doubles] at the Paralympics. So I’m playing with her at the next tournament and then at the . So, who knows? It could be an exciting one,” Shuker smiled.
“There’s some incredible other opponents which is always going to be tough but we’ll give it our best. Who knows in that Grand Slam? It might be the year.
“Each time I want to get on a court and feel like I’m playing the right way, I’m performing, playing the tennis that I want to be playing.
“And enjoying it, enjoying the process is not always about the wins and the losses, sometimes it’s, you’ve got to go with the journey, each day I want to be better than yesterday. It’s tough but keep putting myself out there and keep trying.”