Latest news with #LucyShuker
Telegraph
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Lucy Shuker interview: I need to get out of my comfort zone on the tennis court
Lucy Shuker took up wheelchair tennis after being paralysed in a motorcycle accident at the age of 21 and she is now the British No 1. As she prepares to start her Wimbledon wheelchair doubles campaign, here she talks to Telegraph Sport about her worst habit, sharks and her favourite holiday. Who is the one person you would like to meet, dead or alive? Lewis Hamilton. I've been following F1 for a long time and he's a remarkable person and driver. In my opinion, he experienced the biggest sporting injustice in 2021 [Hamilton missed out on the world title after controversial decisions in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix]. I'm a bit of a fan – I think he is amazing. What is your worst habit? It is actually something I am really working to break at the moment. On the tennis court, when I'm asked if I can do something, sometimes I resort back to justifying why it will be difficult. I'm working hard to break that one. I'm good in life about doing something outside of my comfort zone, I'll give it a go, but sometimes on the tennis court I resort to not being able to do something. It's a challenge. I should say, 'Yes, I'll give it a go'. If you were not a sports person, what would you be doing? If I hadn't had my accident, I would have gone into the police. What is the one rule you would like to change in your sport? I'd say, specifically for wheelchair tennis, classification. There has been controversy between players and governing bodies around where classifications are set and it should change. What is your most embarrassing moment? I don't know if it's embarrassing, but I take such a long time in the morning that it is frustrating. If I need to do something at 9am, I need to get up at 4am in the morning to make that work. If you could switch lives with anyone in the world for a day, who would it be? Not someone specific but I'm fascinated by sharks so if I could switch lives it would be with someone who dives with sharks. I've been fascinated by them all my life. What is your favourite childhood memory? I loved going up to my nana's in Doncaster. Instead of a camp bed, she would have a pile of blankets, it would be layers upon layers. I loved it – all the way up there I knew the bed would be waiting. What is your favourite WhatsApp group? It's not a current one but my family group chat during Covid. We did a weekly art competition. The theme changed every week and we would all create something arty based on that theme and we would put it on social media for people to vote on. What is your most prized possession? My engagement ring. It was a Boxing Day proposal a few years ago. If you could have one superpower, what would it be? To be able to fly. I'm not sure where I'd go – somewhere warm because at the moment it is cold and wet. I'd go with my other half, I can give them a piggy back! Just being able to fly and get out of the wheelchair to reach stuff on the top shelf would be good. What song gets you on the dancefloor? Dolly Parton, 9 to 5. What is your dream three-course meal and dinner guests? Prawns for starter, fresh king crab legs and a chocolate fondant pudding. And I'd have it with my other half. We spend time together but, with all the events, it is not a lot of quality time. If Lewis Hamilton wanted to join, he would be more than welcome! If you could go on any reality TV show what would it be? MasterChef – not to cook the food but to taste the food. Do you prefer a night in or a night out? A night in. If it's winter, it's about getting the fire on, good food, and a decent movie or TV show. What is the best advice you have ever received? Believe in yourself and you can do this. The team that works with me has said that numerous times. There are so many negative people and comments, especially in the sporting world, so it's good to surround yourself with positive people and people who want the best for you. What is the best concert you have been to? Taylor Swift's Eras tour at Wembley. I'm not a massive fan and didn't know what to expect but eventually I went with it. I really enjoyed it and the performance lasted more than three hours. What is the most ridiculous thing you have ever bought? Recently my other half bought £100-worth of protein bars when they were on offer. They are different flavours but it is a decent amount of bars. What has been your favourite holiday? The Maldives. It was amazing – really chilled, turquoise water.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Tennis ace claims doubles title as Wimbledon preparations continue
DORSET tennis ace Lucy Shuker continues her Wimbledon preparations in perfect fashion after defending her Eastbourne Open title. The British wheelchair number one and Olympic medallist was crowned Lexus Eastbourne Open Women's Wheelchair Doubles champion on Sunday. Advertisement Along with her Dutch partner, Diede De Groot, the pair ran out comfortable winners, beating Chilean Macarena Cabrillana and fellow Brit Cornelia Oosthuizen 6-0, 6-1 in the final. Prior to the final the winning duo had fought through a tough semi final against Colombian Angelica Bernal and Chinese player Zhenzhen Zhu. Shuker and De Groot had to come from behind after losing the first set 7-5 before claiming the second set 6-1. The deciding set was a gruelling test but Shuker and De Groot finally came out on top 10-7. Shuker, who lives in Three-Legged Cross and is sponsored by Weymouth firm Titan Manufacturing will now go into her final tournament before Wimbledon when she competes in the LTA's Lexus British Open Roehampton. The competition runs from Monday, June 30 to Friday, July 4 at the Wimbledon Qualifying and Community Sports Centre. She will then get her Wimbledon campaign underway on Tuesday 8 to Sunday July 13
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
British number one to compete at Wimbledon Qualifying Centre
Lucy Shuker is set to compete in the LTA's Lexus British Open Roehampton. The event, which runs from Monday, June 30 to Friday, July 4 at the Wimbledon Qualifying and Community Sports Centre, will also see the participation of Britain's Alfie Hewett, Gordon Reid and Andy Lapthorne. The tournament is part of the ITF's UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour and is the highest-level international wheelchair and junior tennis tournament in Britain outside of Wimbledon. The reigning Wimbledon singles champion, Alfie Hewett and his Paralympic gold medal-winning doubles partner, Gordon Reid, are part of the men's line-up, which includes defending British Open champion, Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina. Oliver Bonding (Image: Getty Images for LTA) The women's entry list is headed by the current world number one, Yui Kamiji of Japan. Shuker, the British number one, will compete alongside Cornelia Oosthuizen and Ruby Bishop. The competition also serves as a prelude to the wheelchair events at Wimbledon. Kirsty Thomson, LTA tournament director, said: "The Lexus British Open Roehampton provides a unique experience for tennis fans to watch the very best wheelchair tennis players in the world alongside some of the rising stars on the international junior tennis scene as they compete on the grass courts in the final event before the wheelchair and junior events at The Championships, Wimbledon." The tournament will also feature an ITF J300 junior event, showcasing some of the world's best junior players. The junior competition begins on Monday, June 30, with the wheelchair draws starting the following day. This summer, the LTA's major event calendar includes several exhibition events showcasing different formats of tennis on some of the sport's biggest stages. Shuker, Oosthuizen, Lapthorne and Slade participated in an exhibition at the Lexus Nottingham Open and will now move on to the Lexus Eastbourne Open.
The Guardian
21-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Lucy Shuker: ‘I took up the sport to find me. It wasn't to be a Paralympian'
'There are thousands of people out there that have a disability. Just because you have one doesn't mean you have to stop living,' says Lucy Shuker as she calmly reflects on her journey of more than two decades and the message she hopes it conveys. It is fair to say Shuker has embodied those sentiments in full. At 44 years old, she has been an unceasing presence at the highest level of wheelchair tennis, making her one of the most successful British players. This journey began with life-changing adversity. Aged 21, shortly after graduating from university and passing her driving test, Shuker was involved in a motorcycle crash that left her paralysed from the chest down. She spent 10 months in hospital as she tried to come to terms with the reality that three-quarters of her body no longer worked. During her continued recovery, Shuker's first encounter with wheelchair tennis was fated. She happened to buy her first chair from the company run by the British quad wheelchair tennis legend Peter Norfolk. During their conversation, Shuker's affinity for badminton before her accident prompted Norfolk to suggest taking up wheelchair tennis. While she readjusted to life after her accident, Shuker found solace on the court with able-bodied family and friends. 'I took up the sport just to find me again, to find enjoyment in playing a sport,' she says. 'It wasn't to become a Paralympian.' She has taken it further than she could have ever imagined. A former No 5 in singles and No 3 in doubles, Shuker's honours include a silver medal in women's doubles at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. With her former partner, Jordanne, Whiley, they became the first British women to win a wheelchair tennis medal with bronze at London 2012. She has reached eight grand slam finals in women's doubles, including five at Wimbledon. Shuker has won 129 titles in singles and doubles and was Great Britain's flag bearer at the Paralympics in 2021. Those achievements are even more remarkable considering the significance of her accident. During the early stages of her recovery, Shuker was told her disability was too severe for her to have any hope of competing at the highest level of wheelchair tennis, which is open to a range of disabilities. 'I find I compare myself to those that have a lesser disability,' she says. 'With that comes the struggles and the questioning of: 'Do I belong?' But I've got years of experience. I love the sport, I've still got the drive to achieve more and I remember why I picked up the racket in the first place.' The integration of wheelchair tennis into some of the biggest tournaments has quietly been one of the most significant recent developments in the professional game. Witnessing players such as Diede de Groot, the incomparable 42-time grand slam champion from the Netherlands, and Britain's Alfie Hewett tussling win the final days of major tournaments is now a core part of the grand slam experience and every year more fans become familiar with the stories of those players. This year, the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open have expanded from eight- to 16-player draws, underlining the development of the sport. It is easy, however, to forget how gradual this process has been. Singles has been contested at all the grand slam tournaments since 2016 when Wimbledon finally joined the other three . Wheelchair tennis has developed dramatically since Shuker first took up the sport. She believes it is important for more integration at Association of Tennis Professionals and Women's Tennis Association events 'It helps drive [wheelchair tennis],' she says. 'It helps raise the awareness, hopefully it raises the athletes's profiles, increases sponsorship opportunities.' With her platform growing, Shuker also has more opportunities to advocate for causes close to her heart. She is an LTA youth ambassador, a role she has used to promote tennis in schools, a notable endeavour at a time when Britain has 7,000 fewer PE teachers than before the 2012 Olympic Games. The LTA's programme has trained more than 26,000 teachers to provide tennis in schools through a combination of free online and in-person training courses. 'If you can get young people to start playing tennis, there's so many benefits from it, whether it's social, physical, mental. If people get the bug from a young age, then they're more likely to continue it into the latter part of life,' says Shuker. 'There's so many benefits – teamwork, problem-solving, hand-eye coordination. Whereas technology is advancing, more and more people are becoming less active and I suppose that's just natural – it's iPads, gaming – but physical activity is so important.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Shuker's lifestyle as a tennis player has in some ways signified her freedom. She has spent the past two decades travelling the world while pursuing her goals with discipline. She plays one of the most individualistic sports and on the court, she, with her partner, is the author her own destiny. Her travels, however, have also brought her face to face with one of the biggest obstacles to freedom for many wheelchair users in their day-to-day lives: accessibility. The more governments around the world try to accommodate wheelchair users in their towns and cities, the more independent they can be. 'That's the dream,' she says. 'You want it to be almost like you don't have to think about it. You just want access to be the norm. I appreciate the world wasn't created for wheelchair users, for those that have disabilities, but being able to accommodate it, being able to think, just taking a moment in terms of access, putting in a ramp as opposed to steps, it transforms people's lives. It means that people are included as opposed to excluded. That impacts the person, but also their friends and their families. It just means that everyone's involved, no one feels different and excluded. I wish that was the case for everyone in the world.' Two decades into this odyssey, life has not begun to slow down. Shuker has just returned from a long run of tournaments in the United States at the time of our conversation, winning her 36th career singles title in Houston a day earlier. A few weeks before that, she clinched her 93rd doubles title in Baton Rouge. Between those triumphs, Shuker won the second Miami Open Wheelchair Tennis Invitational at the ATP and WTA event. After a few fleeting days at home, Shuker left for her next challenge, but she lost in the women's doubles final at the Japan Open in Fukuoka on Saturday. A busy clay-court season is next. After all those years, she continues to compete and win at the top while finding meaning and enjoyment from the game. In other words, she continues to live her life.
