The Dutch wheelchair tennis star Esther Vergeer has not lost for more than nine years but says a defeat would help the sport
Amelia Gentleman at Eton Manor
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 1 September 2012 22.23 BST
After swiftly defeating her opponent in the first match of the women's wheelchair tennis singles tournament, Esther Vergeer said wistfully: "I'm hoping that someday, somebody will beat me."
Most sports stars do not hope for defeat but for Vergeer it would make an interesting change. It has been nine and a half years and 466 matches since she last lost.
The Dutch player has enjoyed one of the longest winning streaks in world sport and was last defeated in a singles match in January 2003. Since then, out of 23 grand slam wheelchair tennis singles competitions, Vergeer, 31, has missed two and won 21. In six of the last eight finals she did not lose a game. A five-times Paralympic gold medallist, she has been ranked world No1 in women's single wheelchair tennis since April 1999.
In the opening game she performed predictably well, defeating Japan's Kanako Domori without dropping a game in 45 minutes. In her after-match interview, she claimed to have felt nervous at the start of the game but any nerves were not visible to spectators. The game began at 3.41pm; five minutes later Vergeer had effortlessly won the first two games.
She says the pressure not to slip up weighs heavily because expectations from others are always so high. "It puts pressure on me that everyone expects me to win and pick up the gold here like it's a no-brainer – when it's not. I work hard for it," she said. "I'm convinced that I can win that gold medal but it's not a sure thing."
She attributes the secret of her enduring success to determination, passion, hard work and fun. "I have a good team around me. It's about nutrition. It's about the way you train. Above all, I love the game," she said.
There was joyous enthusiasm from the audience at the Centre Court at the wheelchair tennis complex at Eton Manor that opened on Saturday for the first day of the competition.
The stands were dotted with supporters from the Netherlands wearing head to toe orange clothes, orange wigs, and orange sequinned hats, and there was a roar of support for the Dutch player when she arrived on court. There were some sympathetic cheers for Domori, who cannot have felt optimistic about her chances.
Before the game began, a compere gave the audience a quick lesson in the rules of wheelchair tennis, which she explained succinctly were exactly the same as those of traditional tennis, except that the ball is allowed to bounce twice.
Aside from her intimidating record, Vergeer must look a threatening opponent from across the court. She circles aggressively as she waits to receive a service. She moves constantly, silently circling and swivelling her chair backwards to get the best angle as she tries to return the shot.
She has recently changed the design of her wheelchair to incorporate a device she describes as a bucket to hold her legs firm. "I've been developing it for the past year and a half. I'm convinced that if you lock your legs in one of those buckets you lose less energy," she said.
Vergeer lost the use of her legs when she was eight when she underwent a surgical procedure on her spine. It saved her life but she was left paralysed. She took up tennis when she was 10.
There was little suspense among the spectators. Watching Vergeer does not make heart-pounding viewing because she is so much better than her opponents. Coaches have paid tribute to her "unbelievable determination" but as she calmly hit aces at 122 kilometres an hour, she did not look like she had to pour too much of that determination into the game.
Vergeer's presence at the tournament has introduced an unusual note of defeatism among other competitors. The US coach, Dan James, said before the tournament: "With the girls, when you have someone like Esther Vergeer, I don't believe there is a [realistic chance]. But there are three medal spots and you never know."
Competitors and coaches paid tribute to the thoughtfully designed Eton Manor centre. James said: "It's obvious that we are looking at a venue that is made for us. It's the things people don't think about that often matter most. For a start, it's flat through the whole venue and all the doorways are wide enough. It's the small things that can make a venue possible or not."
Vergeer is aware of the name of Jahangir Khan, the Pakistan squash player, who played 555 consecutive matches without being beaten in the early 1980s – the only sportsman known to have a more enduring winning streak than her.
"I know about him, I hear his name, and I know that he won 555 games but my goal is not to beat that record. I'm not planning to go to my 500th win, or 550, or 1,000th," she said.
At some point she would like to be beaten, she insisted. "That would be good for the development of the sport."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/sep/01/esther-vergeer-wheelchair-tennis-paralympics?CMP=twt_guThat's an impressive record. I never knew about this woman.