David Wagner (born March 4, 1974) is an American wheelchair tennis player. Paralyzed from the mid-chest down and with thirty percent function in his hands, he competes in the quad division. He plays by taping the tennis racket to his hand. He is currently ranked number three in the world in singles and number two in doubles.

Early life Wagner was born in Fullerton, California, and grew up in Walla Walla, Washington. He played basketball in high school and tennis in college. He became a quadriplegic at age 21 while visiting a friend in Redondo Beach, California, during summer break. He and his friends were playing frisbee on the beach and Wagner began chasing after the frisbee through shallow water. He attempted to jump over a wave, but the wave caught his feet, spun him around, and he landed head-first in the sand, leaving him paralyzed. He took a year off of college and began practicing table tennis as part of his rehabilitation. He won a national competition in that sport three years in a row, from 1997 to 1999.

Tennis career

In 1999, at age 25, he attended a wheelchair tennis training camp set up by Rick Draney, then the top-ranked quadriplegic tennis player in the world. Wagner immediately loved the sport and by 2002 was the number one ranked U.S. quadriplegic player.

In 2002, Wagner reached number one in the ITF world rankings in quad doubles, and in 2003, he reached number one in the quad singles world rankings as well. The 2004 Summer Paralympics were the first Paralympic Games to include the quad division. Wagner won the gold medal in Quad Doubles with partner Nick Taylor and the silver medal in singles.

In 2007, he participated in the first Quad competition held at the U.S. Open, winning doubles with Taylor and taking second place in singles behind Peter Norfolk. Wagner had urged the United States Tennis Association to include a quadriplegic division at the event; the U.S. Open was the first of the Grand Slam tournaments to do so. The Australian Open followed suit the next year, with Wagner finishing runner-up in singles, and winning doubles with Taylor. The US Open and the Australian Open were the only Grand Slams to offer a Quad wheelchair tennis draw, until 2019. The first Quad Wheelchair Doubles exhibition event was held at Wimbledon in 2018. Wagner won the event, partnering Andy Lapthorne. Later that year, Wimbledon announced that they would offer a singles and doubles quad draw . Roland Garros followed with a similar announcement a few months later. Wagner, partnering Alcott, won the inaugural Roland Garros Quad Doubles draw.

At the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, Wagner and Taylor won gold in doubles and competed against each other in the bronze medal match of the singles event, with Wagner taking the match and the medal. At the 2012 London Paralympics, Wagner and Taylor won one more gold medal in doubles, defeating the British team of Andy Lapthorne and Peter Norfolk in the final. Wagner also won a silver medal in singles. At the final, he played against Israel's Noam Gershony. At the 2016 Summer Paralympics, Wagner clinched two more medals, a Silver in Quad Doubles and a Bronze in Quad Singles.

According to ITF world rankings, Wagner had been consistently ranked in the top three of the quad division, in both singles and doubles, from 2002 until 2020. He has finished as Year-End Number 1 a total of eight times in singles, as well as fourteen times in doubles, . Wagner had been crowned doubles champion at every U.S. Open Quad Doubles draw, since the Grand Slam started offering a Quad Draw, in 2007, until 2019, when Wagner with partner Bryan Barten lost to Alcott and Lapthorne. He has also been crowned doubles champion in all editions of the French Open Quad Doubles draw so far, playing with three different partners.

Besides competing, Wagner is often invited to teach in wheelchair camps and clinics in the United States, where he encourages both kids and adults to become involved with the sport.

Personal life Wagner graduated with an elementary education degree in 2000. In 2001, when he had to choose between teaching and playing tennis, he decided to become a full time wheelchair tennis player. From 2006 until 2014 he lived in Hillsboro, Oregon, and then moved to Chula Vista, California. He trains at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center, (formerly Chula Vista Olympic Training Center) where he is the only tennis player in residence.

Tennis career statistics Grand Slam performance timelines

Current through the 2026 French Open.

Quad singles Tournament20072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026 Australian OpenNHFFFWFWWFFRRFFRRQFQFSF1R1RA3 / 18 French OpenNot heldFSFSFSFSFQFAA0 / 6 WimbledonNot heldSFNHSFSFQFQFA0 / 5 US OpenFNHFWWNHFFFNHWFRRRRQFSFQFNH1R3 / 14

Quad doubles Tournament20072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026 Australian OpenNHWWWFFWWWWWFFFFWSFWQFA10 / 18 French OpenNot heldWWWSFSFSFAA3 / 6 WimbledonNot heldWFNHWFSFSFA1 / 5 US OpenWNHWWWNHWWWNHWWFFSFSFQFNHQF9 / 14

Quad doubles: 31 (23 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score Win2007US OpenHard Nick Taylor Sarah Hunter Peter Norfolk6–1, 4–6, 6–0Win2008Australian Open Hard Nick Taylor Sarah Hunter Peter Norfolk5–7, 6–0, [10–3]Win2009Australian Open (2) Hard Nick Taylor Peter Norfolk Johan Andersson6–2, 6–3 Win2009US Open (2)Hard Nick Taylor Johan Andersson Peter Norfolk6–1, 6–7(5–7), 6–3Win2010Australian Open (3) Hard Nick Taylor Peter Norfolk Johan Andersson6–2, 7–6(7–5) Win2010US Open (3)Hard Nick Taylor Johan Andersson Peter Norfolk6–1, 7–5, 7–6(7–4)Loss2011Australian OpenHard Nick Taylor Andy Lapthorne Peter Norfolk3–6, 3–6 Win2011US Open (4)Hard Nick Taylor Peter Norfolk Noam GershonyWalkoverLoss2012Australian OpenHard Noam Gershony Andy Lapthorne Peter Norfolk4–6, 2–6Win2013Australian Open (4) Hard Nick Taylor Andy Lapthorne Anders Hard6–2, 6–3 Win2013US Open (5)Hard Nick Taylor Andy Lapthorne Lucas Sithole6–0, 2–6, 6–3Win2014Australian Open (5)Hard Andy Lapthorne Dylan Alcott Lucas Sithole6–4, 6–4 Win2014US Open (6)Hard Nick Taylor Andy Lapthorne Lucas Sithole6–3, 7–5Win2015Australian Open (6)Hard Andy Lapthorne Dylan Alcott Lucas Sithole6–0, 3–6, 6–2 Win2015US Open (7)Hard Nick Taylor Dylan Alcott Andy Lapthorne4–6, 6–2, [10–7]Win2016Australian Open (7)Hard Lucas Sithole Dylan Alcott Andy Lapthorne6–1, 6–3Win2017Australian Open (8)Hard Andy Lapthorne Dylan Alcott Heath Davidson6–3, 6–3 Win2017US Open (8)Hard Andy Lapthorne Dylan Alcott Bryan Barten7–5, 6–2Loss2018Australian OpenHard Andy Lapthorne Dylan Alcott Heath Davidson0–6, 7–6(7–5), [6–10] Win2018US Open (9)Hard Andy Lapthorne Dylan Alcott Bryan Barten 3–6, 6–0, [10–4]Loss2019Australian OpenHard Andy Lapthorne Dylan Alcott Heath Davidson Win2019French OpenClay Dylan Alcott Ymanitu Silva Koji Sugeno6–3, 6–3Loss2019WimbledonGrass Koji Sugeno Dylan Alcott Andy Lapthorne2–6, 6–7(4–7)Loss2019US OpenHard Bryan Barten Dylan Alcott Andy Lapthorne7–6(7–5), 1–6, [6–10]Loss2020Australian OpenHard Andy Lapthorne Dylan Alcott Heath Davidson4–6, 3–6Loss2020US OpenHard Sam Schroder Dylan Alcott Andy Lapthorne6–3, 4–6, [8–10]Win2020French Open (2)Clay Sam Schroder Dylan Alcott Andy Lapthorne4–6, 7–5, [10–8]Loss2021Australian Open Hard Andy Lapthorne Dylan Alcott Heath Davidson2–6, 6–3, [7–10]Win2021French Open (3)Clay Andy Lapthorne Dylan Alcott Sam Schröder7–6(7–1), 4–6, [10–7] Win2021Wimbledon (2)Grass Andy Lapthorne Dylan Alcott Sam Schröder6–1, 3–6, 6–4Win2022Australian Open (9)Hard Andy Lapthorne Niels Vink Sam Schröder2–6, 6–4, [10–7]Loss2022WimbledonGrass Andy Lapthorne Niels Vink Sam Schröder7–6(7–4), 2–6, 3–6Win2024Australian Open (10)Hard Andy Lapthorne Donald Ramphadi Guy Sasson6–4, 3–6, [10–2]

See also List of quad wheelchair tennis champions

References

External links

David Wagner at the US Open