As a child, Tokito Oda became inspired by watching Shingo Kunieda win gold in the men’s wheelchair tennis in the 2012 London Paralympics finals.
Today, he’s following in the path that the Japanese legend blazed, capturing his first U.S. Open wheelchair men’s singles title on Sept. 6.
Oda’s victory also marked completing the Lifetime Golden Slam—victories in all four Grand Slam tournaments and the Paralympics.
He became the third player in history to achieve this feat in wheelchair tennis, following Kunieda in the men’s division and Diede De Groot from Netherlands in the women’s division.
At 19 years and 3 months, he is the youngest ever to accomplish it.
Is the tennis superstar really still just a teenager?
Talking to Oda, it still feels that way, particularly since he first began competing in Grand Slam tournaments only three years ago when he was 16.
In an interview with Oda in August before he left for the U.S. Open, the interviewer was told that indeed he was the “Chosen One.”
What convinced him was the final match of the Paris Paralympics last September. Oda played against his longtime rival Alfie Hewett from Britain in the final match.
Even after Hewett had a match point in the final set, Oda fought it off and pulled off a stirring comeback to win the gold medal.
“After playing a match like that, I feel like I’ve been chosen,” Oda said.
“You mean, chosen by the so-called ‘god of victory’?” he was asked.
Oda gave a wry smile.
“Well, yes. Maybe the person who worked the hardest gets chosen,” he said.
To rise to that level of perfection, Oda resists the temptation of sweets in his diet and practices hard.
Even when he travels to Tokyo from his base in Aichi Prefecture for commercial photo shoots, he does his abs exercises and push-ups in his hotel room until he’s drenched in sweat.
He takes pride in his steadfast physical effort that no one else can match.
In the U.S. Open final, he faced Gustavo Fernandez from Argentina, who had defeated Hewett in the semifinals.
In the final-set tiebreaker, Oda again faced a match point but rallied with three straight points to level the score before winning the tiebreaker.
In his victory speech, he said, “It was the best match of my career. I’ll never forget this day.”
He even said it surpassed the Paralympic final in Paris.
Kunieda, who completed the Career Golden Slam three years ago and retired the following year at age 38 after winning 28 Grand Slam men’s singles titles and three Paralympic gold medals, offered high praise for Oda.
“No matter how cornered he gets, he unleashes powerful shots and wins points on his own,” he said. “His championship mindset is incredible.”
Kunieda also praised Oda’s court skills, saying, “He’s already beyond the level where I can even comment. His serve, return, volley, forehand and backhand are all flawless.”
Oda developed osteosarcoma in his left leg and lost the use of the limb freely when he was in the third grade.
He began playing wheelchair tennis at age 10, a few years after watching Kunieda’s gold medal feat in London.
Less than 10 years later, Kunieda, the most decorated wheelchair tennis player in history, talked about his successor, saying, “Tokito’s era of dominance will continue for the foreseeable future.”
Original Source: This article was originally published on Asahi Sports. Click the link to view the full article.