“Down Under” – literally “under” the bright lights of the Australian Open (AO) – JTCC Para Standing athlete Kemit-Amon Lewis showcased his skills on one of the sport’s most iconic stages.

Lewis competed in a Para Standing Tennis (PST) exhibition during the Grand Slam’s All Abilities Day at Margaret Court Arena on January 27. The appearance came on the heels of his participation in the Oceania Para Standing Tennis Championships several days earlier—to him, the gold standard for international PST competition.

JTCC Junior wheelchair tennis player Spencer Davis has reached a major milestone, earning a #8 world ranking on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Wheelchair Tennis Tour—placing him among the top 10 Junior wheelchair tennis players and top ranked American in the world.

A high school sophomore and member of JTCC’s High Performance Champs II program, Davis has made steady progress in the last two years training alongside High Performance athletes.
“I have been able to further develop my game and improve different parts of it recently because of JTCC and their outstanding coaches,” said Davis.

JTCC hosted an All-Coaches Integration Training in Building 2 on January 5, bringing coaches and players in the Adaptive programs together for a unique, hands-on learning experience.

Eight players from JTCC Wheelchair and Para Standing programs participated in integrated drills, situations where athletes with and without disabilities are learning tennis together. The players provided real-time feedback to help coaches from the High Performance and Developmental teams learn how to adapt instruction and environments to support every athlete.

More than 150 athletes and Unified teammates representing 16 Maryland high school teams competed indoors at JTCC on November 11 in the Special Olympics Maryland Unified Tennis High School State Championships.

Unified Tennis features participants with and without intellectual disabilities and includes various levels of tennis experience. Athletes are assigned to groups of four to compete in round robin doubles based on skill levels. Each team includes a player with and a player without an intellectual disability.

JTCC made history as one of the first tennis centers in the U.S. to hire a full-time Adaptive Tennis Program Manager. We spoke with Gabby Hesse, Head of Wheelchair & Adaptive about what “defining excellence” means through adaptive sport and how JTCC is changing what’s possible for athletes of all abilities.

Breaking barriers on and off the courts, two JTCC adaptive tennis players were featured in a Washington Post article this past Friday documenting their selection for their high schools’ tennis teams this year.

A testament to their exceptional skill and unyielding determination, freshmen Spencer Davis and Maya Gareri have joined their respective teams at Langley High School in McLean, VA, and Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, MD, since the season began earlier this spring.

JTCC is proud to announce that Head of Wheelchair and Adaptive Tennis Gabby Hesse has been named to the USTA Wheelchair tennis national development team.

The Para Standing Championships held March 1-2 brought together 15 exceptional athletes from the United States and Chile and featured a remarkable display of talent across multiple competitive categories including Men’s and Women’s singles and doubles.

Kemit-Amon Lewis’s journey back to competitive tennis is a testament to resilience, innovation, and the power of community. His connection with Wilson and JTCC has been instrumental in his return to the sport, allowing him to push past barriers and redefine what is possible in Para Standing tennis.

Eighteen proud Military Veterans came together September 20-22 to compete in the first JTCC Veterans Tennis Championships for a memorable weekend dedicated to honoring those who have served our country.

The tennis journey of JTCC MedStar athlete Madeleine-Camille Preuninger was transformed overnight when she was the surprise recipient of a free custom-fit sports wheelchair six months ago. The Hartford, a leading provider of disability insurance that has dedicated itself for the past 30 years to making adaptive sports and equipment more accessible, awarded the wheelchair to Preuninger making an indelible impact on the tennis enthusiast who began playing at JTCC in 2021.

Thirty-two of the top wheelchair tennis players in the nation competed earlier this month in the USTA L4 JTCC Wheelchair Tennis Championships presented by MedStar NRH. The largest wheelchair tournament in program history with 32 competitors, the event featured 16 JTCC/MedStar players, including 13-year-old Spencer Davis, 38-year-old Bryce Doody, and 48-year-old Michael Flores, who were all crowned champions in their respective brackets.

JTCC Para Standing players Nicky Maxwell and Ken ‘Rocket’ Rodriguez had the opportunity of their lifetime when the duo competed in a Para Standing Doubles match in Arthur Ashe Stadium preceding the US Open Women’s Singles Final on September 9.