Esther Vergeer didn’t realize she would never walk again.
After undergoing a risky surgery involving hemorrhaging blood vessels around her spinal cord as an 8-year-old, Vergeer thought the wheelchair was just going to be part of her recovery, not the greater part of her life.
More than 20 years later, Vergeer remains paralyzed, but nearly nine years have passed since the world’s most dominant athlete has appeared anything less than omnipotent.
For the world’s No. 1 women’s wheelchair tennis player since 1999, superlatives aren’t substantial. Having won 422 consecutive singles matches, dating back to January 2003, Vergeer, 30, has made the extraordinary appear routine, the improbability of a loss seem impossible.
“It was basically a lifetime ago,” Daniela Di Toro said of being the last player to beat Vergeer, after losing 6-0, 6-0, in last year’s U.S. Open Final. “It doesn’t get any better than her. You don’t see many people in chairs who were born athletes. She’s incredible. She could’ve chosen to do anything and been extraordinary at it.”
Vergeer also was an accomplished basketball player before choosing to focus solely on tennis, playing on the Dutch team that won the European Championship in 1997.
Before her paralysis, she didn’t play sports. As part of her rehabilitation, Vergeer became immersed in athletics, and after losing so much, she found something that no one could take away.
“It was just a very comfortable environment,” Vergeer told the Post from her native Netherlands. “It was fun and I could be myself. Nobody asked me questions and nobody stared at me. I started to see how far I could go and what my limits were, trying to rediscover what my body was and what I could do. It’s not that I realized I had any talents or could be No. 1 in the world.”
No one could have envisioned that leap years would come more often than losses. She has won 150 singles titles, including the past 18 grand slam singles events she’s played in, as well as three Paralympic gold medals and 13 straight year-end championships. When her name hits the draw at her favorite tournament, the upcoming U.S. Open, engravers can begin chiseling her name into the trophy. There are no rivals. No player can provide as much competition as her legacy.
Her coach Sven Groeneveld — who has guided three different players to grand slam championships, including Monica Seles — wanted the opportunity to work with Vergeer and learn what makes her so good, potentially translating it to able-bodied players.
“Her dominance is not due to the lack of competition, but the total excellence of one individual over others,” Groeneveld said. “I hope her record will be a motivation for many, able-bodied or those in a wheelchair. It should be an inspiration to others. … I am most impressed in her dedication and total commitment to her sport.”
It is her sport. She owns the court each time she’s on it. For Vergeer, there is nothing left to prove. She does not care about extending the streak. Her motivation is improvement. And the reason she’s the best becomes clearer.
“Wheelchair tennis is quite a young sport and there’s still a lot I can do better mentally, physically and tactically,” Vergeer said. “I think we can learn a lot from the able-bodied world. I think we have to try to get closer to them as athletes. As long as I don’t feel I’ve reached that level yet, I want to get better.”
Three years ago, it was one point away from ending. At the Paralympic games in Beijing, Vergeer fought off a match point, and for the first time, felt the pressure of the streak. She began to hate it. She had passed the point where greatness wasn’t great enough. Only disappointment mattered.
Since then, she has vowed to enjoy the game more, and should the streak end, it would shock many people, but not necessarily her.
“If I lose, and I’m gonna lose, or when I lose, I hope I lose to somebody that’s better than me,” Vergeer said. “That’s the only thing I’m a little bit afraid of is that maybe I’ll have an off day and someone has a great day. That would probably influence the way I feel after the match.”
The window to end the streak may be closing. Currently, her furthest plan is winning next year’s Paralympic games in London, which conflicts with the U.S. Open. After that, retirement may follow.
“It’s hard to set a date or a tournament where that’s going to be it,” Vergeer said. “I’m not planning on it, but this could be my last U.S. Open. But, I don’t want that, so maybe just for the U.S. Open I’ll come back in 2013.”
