Former Australian Open quarter-finalist Alicia Molik has thrown her help behind the larger inclusion in tennis of blind and low-vision gamers.
As disabled athletes acquire growing profile around the globe, Molik believes it is vital for visually challenged tennis gamers to be given alternatives.
A former No.8 and Australia’s incumbent Billie Jean King Cup captain took to the court docket with Blind & Low Vision Australian B2 Champion Courtney Webeck and B3 champion Mick Leigh to showcase the game in a brand new mild.
Wearing blackout simulation glasses to simulate the sport from the attitude of an individual residing with a imaginative and prescient impairment, Molik stated the expertise was priceless.
“It’s given me a new-found appreciation for blind and low-vision tennis and the need for growth in this code,” stated the Mastercard ambassador.
“Throughout my career, I’ve been tested during matches but this felt like a totally different ball game.
“The most difficult half for me, whereas simulating the lived experiences of an individual residing with a imaginative and prescient impairment, was selecting up the sound when the ball was in flight.
“It made me feel like I was very incapable of a skill that ordinarily I’d be an expert at.”
With totally different codes of tennis gaining consciousness and traction, 57 per cent of Australians residing with a incapacity say it will be important for them to have function fashions represented in sport.
Representation will not be solely key for making certain folks residing with a incapacity really feel included, however to assist them really feel impressed to take part (37 per cent).
Beyond this, Australians residing with a incapacity consider training (86 per cent), consciousness (76 per cent), and main occasions (75 per cent) have the facility to make folks residing with a incapacity really feel extra included.
A blind and low-vision tennis match is scheduled to happen in the course of the first week of this month’s Australian Open in Melbourne after Mastercard funded a Blind Sports Australia (BSA) grant to develop the sport at a grassroots degree.
