Vision impaired tennis takes centre stage at Melbourne Park

(Tennis Australia)

During Wimbledon finals weekend, another special tournament was taking place closer to home: The 2025 Australian Blind and Low Vision Tennis Championships.

Staged at Melbourne Park's National Tennis Centre, a plethora of inspirational athletes across various abilities gathered for what was a scintillating three-day extravaganza.

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I was lucky enough to be asked to commentate on the livestream for Tennis Australia by the organisation's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Pathways and Events Specialist Ben Dew, and my jaw was on the floor throughout most of the action as the talent on show was quite incredible.

With a slightly larger and spongy tennis ball that includes bearings to make it audible, the best exponents of low vision tennis in the country work wonders with it, with replacements often needed for some who regularly hit the cover off it.

Multi-sport stars such as Courtney Webeck and Reuben Fairbank were in attendance and were both able to clinch titles at the competition, with Fairbank winning the B3 men's singles title, taking down New South Wales' Michael Leigh for the first time in singles play on his ninth attempt in what was a mightily entertaining affair.

Webeck would conquer the B2 women’s singles, adding to her illustrious trophy cabinet across both tennis and cricket, while also juggling university studies in her Bachelor of Exercise Physiology course.

The players are classified from B4 to B1, with four being the highest amount of vision at the tournament and one the least with no vision at all.

Those were the players that impressed me the most, with their ability to rely solely on sound to hit the ball with oozing quality.

While rallies might be generally one-shot, the players' knack of putting serves in and even being able to hit the occasional blistering return, I was in awe of the way that the participants found their bearings on a smaller court with a piece of string under the line to assist players in locating their position on the court.

In addition, guides were used to ensure that everyone was in their correct spots throughout each respective matchup.

Isabella Allen would take home the women's singles and open doubles in a brilliant display of tennis, winning the hearts of many in attendance and from their homes watching the coverage.

The sportsmanship across the weekend was palpable, with all players establishing the community and family aspect of the competition.

Rounding out the tournament was the awarding of the Maurice Gleeson Cup to the best-performing state, with South Australia taking the honours for the first time in the event's history.

For more details about the results, click here, and for the livestream, head to Tennis Australia's YouTube channel.

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