Wheelchair tennis players from across the Pacific Northwest and beyond competed for $3,000 in prize money at the Salem Tennis & Swim Club over Aug. 7–9, bringing the annual Level 3 Open Pacific Northwest Sectional Wheelchair Tennis Championship back to the Lone Oak Road facility.
The tournament, sanctioned by USTA Pacific Northwest and organized by the Northwest Wheelchair Tennis Association, drew international competitors to Salem's courts. Emmanuel Hakizimana, a 33-year-old ITF-ranked player from Rwanda who won his country's national wheelchair tennis title in 2023, paired with 19-year-old Lachlan Sandford of Mission, British Columbia, in doubles play on Aug. 7, according to Salem Reporter's photo coverage of the event.
The BC Wheelchair Sports Association confirmed that four of its athletes traveled to Salem for the event: Mitch McIntyre, Sandford, Thomas Venos and Barry Henderson, all competing on the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour.
Salem Tennis & Swim Club, which has operated at 4318 Lone Oak Rd. SE since 1963, is one of just four facilities in Oregon and Washington listed by USTA Pacific Northwest as a provider of adapted tennis classes, clinics and tournaments. The club also hosted the championship in August 2024.
Tournament results, including singles and doubles winners, were not available as of Aug. 11.
How Salem residents can play
The club offers an ongoing adult wheelchair tennis program in coordination with the Northwest Wheelchair Tennis Association, a Salem-based nonprofit with more than 120 years of combined experience in adaptive tennis. Sessions run Thursdays from noon to 1:30 p.m., led by a certified wheelchair tennis professional. Cost is $22.50 for members and $31.50 for non-members. All skill levels are welcome.
Residents can contact the Salem Tennis & Swim Club at 503-363-2424 or visit salemtennisandswimclub.com. USTA Pacific Northwest's adapted tennis manager, Krista Mikalatos, can be reached at [email protected] or 503-487-9747.
Upcoming
The club's Thursday wheelchair tennis sessions continue weekly. The next annual Pacific Northwest Sectional Championship date has not yet been announced.
