Wheelchair pioneers Esther Vergeer and Rick Draney enshrined in International Tennis Hall

By KEN POWTAK
Associated Press

NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Esther Vergeer put up eye-popping numbers during her career in wheelchair tennis, piling them up as the sport grew and became a Grand Slam event. Now, her accomplishments will be on display forever after she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday during a 45-minute ceremony on grass courts just outside the museum. A 21-time Grand Slam singles champion and seven-time Paralympic gold medalist, Vergeer held the No. 1 spot in the world rankings for 668 weeks from 2000-13 and won 470 straight singles matches. Also inducted was American Rick Draney, 61, who won 12 singles titles and six in doubles before the Slam era of wheelchair tennis and is a pioneer in bringing quad tennis to the sport.