Nick Taylor Q&A

Mobility Awareness Month: Q&A with Nick Taylor

USTA Missouri Valley’s own wheelchair tennis legend, Nick Taylor, and his partner, David Wagner, helped Team USA capture the bronze medal in the quad division at the World Team Cup. May was also National Mobility Awareness Month, which is why USTA.com chatted with Taylor about how far wheelchair tennis has come over the past two decades and what can be done to raise the profile of the sport even more in the coming years.

USTA.com: Why is it important to recognize National Mobility Awareness Month? Nick Taylor: I think it's so important to recognize because a very high percentage of our population has a disability and so many people don't realize that. It's important because as a disabled person, we do need things to be accessible and functional for us. Without it, we're completely trapped, like when we play tournaments in other countries that don't have these laws and regulations. We were just in Italy and we had to pick the restaurant based on what we could get into, not based on where we really wanted to go to.

USTA.com: How does it feel to know you're in a position to inspire others and show how people with disabilities can lead active lifestyles? Taylor: It's very humbling. For a long time, I absolutely despised the word "inspirational." I hated the idea that I was an inspirational. Then, I finally just grew to get it and understand it. It's not that it's my motivation to want to play or do things, but now I look at it and say that if I can play tennis with the severity of disability that I have, it might show another disabled kid or a parent of a disabled kid, that if Nick can do it, my kid who is only half as disabled as him can do it. It doesn't have to be someone with a disability. It could be a fully able-bodied person that is looking for excuses not to do something. If them seeing me do something inspires them to do something, that's awesome.

USTA.com: How have you seen attitudes toward wheelchair tennis change over the past 20 years or so? Taylor: It has become and is continuing to become more and more professional from every angle, from the players to the training regimen to the coaches that are coaching it to the people running tournaments and officiating.

USTA.com: What's the next step the sport can take to help highlight wheelchair tennis even more? Taylor: It has to get more media attention. It has to get on TV. Until it becomes a somewhat regular thing on TV, not just a one-off, 30-minute thing a year, that's when you'll start to see the top players start to get some really big sponsorships. It's not going to happen all of a sudden, but it has to happen over time.

USTA.com: What's the one thing you'd like people to know specifically about the quad division of wheelchair tennis? Taylor: That it is in many ways we're the most severley disabled of everyone playing wheelchair tennis, and as a result, we have to think the most creatively and adapt and do some things differently. David has to tape the racquet in his hand. A lot of people might not even see the tape or realize that he's stuck in that one grip for the entire match. If you see pictures of me, I'm holding onto the racquet completely backward and using my foot to serve.

The quad division is a testament to human creativity and adaptability. There are very few of us are doing it the way a "normal person" would do it. We're having to do things very, very differently.

USTA.com: When you look back at everything you have accomplished, what stands out the most? Taylor: If I had to pick one, it would probably be that gold medal match in London. The other two golds and all the other Grand Slams are close.