Shingo Kunieda has been named the tournament director of the wheelchair section of Kinoshita Group Japan Open’s women’s tournament that will start this year. He announced his retirement in January having achieved a Career Golden Slam by winning all Grand Slams and the Olympic Gold Medals in London and Tokyo. He has also received the National Honor Award this past spring.

While wheelchair tennis tournament started in 2019 at Japan Open Championships’ men’s tournament, this year marks the first for women’s wheelchair tennis. Director Kunieda hopes to “see more opportunities for all tennis fans to see wheelchair tennis,” and he seeks to increase the visibility of wheelchair tennis as the director of the event. He also has spent time checking the venue for proper parking spaces for wheelchairs and accessibility of restrooms. “There are things I notice because I too have been a player so I want to build on that experience with the help of others,” Kunieda said.

This year, participating players will include world’s #2, Yui Kamiji and other top Japanese players as some foreign players were not able to come due to visa-related issues. Kunieda commentes,”The grade of this tournament is still not high so if we are able to raise the grade for next year, it will be easier to attract players.”