British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

Var · Challenger qualifying

Learning Disability Tennis Championships Nottingham

wolf · Tennis legend

Hi VAR, we already have a Para Tennis thread in general tennis discussion which Anna's Dad "AnnaM" contributes to.

https://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t72412103/para-tennis-2026/

Var · Challenger qualifying

wolf wrote:
Hi VAR, we already have a Para Tennis thread in general tennis discussion which Anna's Dad "AnnaM" contributes to.
https://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t72412103/para-tennis-2026/

Oh Im sorry I couldnt find it in a search. Anyway, well done Anna! As it grows, which I am sure it will, maybe we might need a Learning Disability section, although part of the para umbrella?

JonH · Tennis legend

Var wrote:
wolf wrote:
Hi VAR, we already have a Para Tennis thread in general tennis discussion which Anna's Dad "AnnaM" contributes to.
https://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t72412103/para-tennis-2026/
Oh Im sorry I couldnt find it in a search. Anyway, well done Anna! As it grows, which I am sure it will, maybe we might need a Learning Disability section, although part of the para umbrella?

We could have a section to include this and wheelchair maybe, not sure what the accepted general title is - disability tennis?

mdewey · Lower Club Player

JonH wrote:
Var wrote:
wolf wrote:
Hi VAR, we already have a Para Tennis thread in general tennis discussion which Anna's Dad "AnnaM" contributes to.
https://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t72412103/para-tennis-2026/
Oh Im sorry I couldnt find it in a search. Anyway, well done Anna! As it grows, which I am sure it will, maybe we might need a Learning Disability section, although part of the para umbrella?
We could have a section to include this and wheelchair maybe, not sure what the accepted general title is - disability tennis?

I think it is quite appropriate for their achievements to be celebrated in the relevant sex-specific section. After all Anna is a woman so belongs here and her male colleagues could go in the men's section.

-- Edited by mdewey on Sunday 28th of June 2026 12:47:14 PM

JonH · Tennis legend

mdewey wrote:
JonH wrote:
Var wrote:
wolf wrote:
Hi VAR, we already have a Para Tennis thread in general tennis discussion which Anna's Dad "AnnaM" contributes to.
https://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t72412103/para-tennis-2026/
Oh Im sorry I couldnt find it in a search. Anyway, well done Anna! As it grows, which I am sure it will, maybe we might need a Learning Disability section, although part of the para umbrella?
We could have a section to include this and wheelchair maybe, not sure what the accepted general title is - disability tennis?
I think it is quite appropriate for their achievements to be celebrated in the relevant sex-specific section. After all Anna is a woman so belongs here and her male colleagues could go in the men's section.

-- Edited by mdewey on Sunday 28th of June 2026 12:47:14 PM

At the moment both para tennis and wheelchair tennis get covered in general section as men and women together. As someone who probably posts most about wheelchair, keeping men and women together works best, I think

https://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t72412104/itf-wheelchair-tennis-tour-2026/

Var · Challenger qualifying

JonH wrote:
mdewey wrote:
JonH wrote:
Var wrote:
wolf wrote:
Hi VAR, we already have a Para Tennis thread in general tennis discussion which Anna's Dad "AnnaM" contributes to.
https://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t72412103/para-tennis-2026/
Oh Im sorry I couldnt find it in a search. Anyway, well done Anna! As it grows, which I am sure it will, maybe we might need a Learning Disability section, although part of the para umbrella?
We could have a section to include this and wheelchair maybe, not sure what the accepted general title is - disability tennis?
I think it is quite appropriate for their achievements to be celebrated in the relevant sex-specific section. After all Anna is a woman so belongs here and her male colleagues could go in the men's section.

-- Edited by mdewey on Sunday 28th of June 2026 12:47:14 PM
At the moment both para tennis and wheelchair tennis get covered in general section as men and women together. As someone who probably posts most about wheelchair, keeping men and women together works best, I think

https://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t72412104/itf-wheelchair-tennis-tour-2026/

I suppose I posted Annas achievements in the womans section as I thought that she should be recognised alongside all female players (inclusive), likewise para men etc alongside male players. We dont have a player of the month category for para for example, everyones achievements are equal across the board. Just a thought.

JonH · Tennis legend

Var wrote:
JonH wrote:
mdewey wrote:
JonH wrote:
Var wrote:
wolf wrote:
Hi VAR, we already have a Para Tennis thread in general tennis discussion which Anna's Dad "AnnaM" contributes to.
https://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t72412103/para-tennis-2026/
Oh Im sorry I couldnt find it in a search. Anyway, well done Anna! As it grows, which I am sure it will, maybe we might need a Learning Disability section, although part of the para umbrella?
We could have a section to include this and wheelchair maybe, not sure what the accepted general title is - disability tennis?
I think it is quite appropriate for their achievements to be celebrated in the relevant sex-specific section. After all Anna is a woman so belongs here and her male colleagues could go in the men's section.

-- Edited by mdewey on Sunday 28th of June 2026 12:47:14 PM
At the moment both para tennis and wheelchair tennis get covered in general section as men and women together. As someone who probably posts most about wheelchair, keeping men and women together works best, I think

https://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t72412104/itf-wheelchair-tennis-tour-2026/
I suppose I posted Annas achievements in the womans section as I thought that she should be recognised alongside all female players (inclusive), likewise para men etc alongside male players. We dont have a player of the month category for para for example, everyones achievements are equal across the board. Just a thought.

Understood and I dont think we should break out PoM at all. Works much better as one across the board process, too much work splitting out into different sections etc.

The issue covering individual para events and wheelchair events as separate tournies in mens and womens as they arise or having a mens wheelchair or para thread and a womens para or wheelchair thread are:

for para- who is going to post them and put them up? outside the Aussie Open and some Virtus Games there are only the occasional event like this and Im not sure anyone follows it closely enough to post a thread about an event? Getting results and draws isnt easy. I dont go searching for them and most of the discussion is largely between Annas Dad and one or two of us observing some of the politics etc.

For wheelchair, there is a full tour, all the events comprise mens, womens and quad (for players with greater impairment and supposedly a mens and womens open category but largely played just by men). There are events every week and I tend to make observations on performances and results in the general wheelchair thread we have set up although i dont ever post draws or specific results - Ill say something like Alfie beat player X in the Italian Open and moves to the semis or Lucy lost in the opening round in Munich, but i seldom post actual scores or draws like SC or TA do on mainstream events. And no one else posts, being honest, apart from very occasionally. So Im not sure who would put up threads for specific events, i wouldnt tbh. And Im not sure having a general wheelchair thread in womens and one in mens adds anything against keeping them all together. Most of the action / success is in the mens or quad game, the womens currently isnt doing too well and Id struggle to personallly post about it if we separated it out, it would just be more work.

I understand and applaud the intent and if more people posted about wheelchair or para, maybe worth considering. But they dont and its largely me (90 percent of the posts are by me) and keeping them as one general wheelchair or para thread works better, I believe.

I hope that isnt negative or combative, just my view!

-- Edited by JonH on Sunday 28th of June 2026 01:57:17 PM

Var · Challenger qualifying

Its good to have the conversation though. I will follow Anna. Ive nominated her for her achievements in player of the month at Nottingham. I shall post as and when. It is a new area and as you say niche at present but lets see what happens over the years.

JonH · Tennis legend

Var wrote:
Its good to have the conversation though. I will follow Anna. Ive nominated her for her achievements in player of the month at Nottingham. I shall post as and when. It is a new area and as you say niche at present but lets see what happens over the years.

Cool, and thats great. Yes, Annas achievements have been applauded on here and she came second in the January PoM vote https://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t72485180/british-tennis-forum-player-of-the-month-vote-january-2026/

She is into the player of the season vote as a result and similarly was in the 2025 player of the season field in January

https://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t72408559/2025-player-of-the-season-vote-round-one-group-d/

youve probably seen in the para thread that there is an ongoing investigation / witch hunt led by one of her rivals and being conducted by Virtus into her level of impairment, which has taken its toll. Annas dad / family have fought hard to demonstrate Anna is well within the IQ levels defining her category of play. Not sure it is all over yet and it is tiring and costly for them.

Hopefully getting support on here is some relief in tough times.
The next big event is the Euro Games which Anma was waiting for team confirmation for.

AnnaM · Lower Club Player

Thanks for the support.

I think disability tennis is quite a niche area right now, but is growing and the top players are very watchable.

It is a shame that the governing body has an unfamathomable agenda regarding Anna. So they are ruining things and lots of players are concerned. Despite having three tests under the criteria Virtus are still moving the goalposts. They have failed to provide satisfactory documents for my Freedom of information request. Only 5 documents dated before the current events. The complaint letter is fully blacked out, even though we have a right to see the complaint and just the identity of the complainant should be redacted. We have been told by the UK governing body that the complaint is a baseless opinion with no evidence.

They pinned all their hopes on an assessment Anna had at 10. We were accused of lying and hiding pages from the report. We contacted the NHS to obtain the scores. It turned out that we were never sent the scores. The score at 10 was 73. We also discovered that Anna was tested at 5. We we sent that report and it was shocking in the problems Anna had. That was scored at 74.

The full test that Anna did at 13 was scored at 69. Virtus basically said that Anna cheated to get that score. Which is rubbish. We told Anna to try very hard, as we needed to know where she was. All her documentation and the first two tests confirm it was in line with her other reports.

We have found out that Virtus contacted Tennis Australia to get Anna thrown out of the Oz Open. Luckily, the organiser did not fall for this and said you can't kick Anna out without evidence and a completed investigation. More victimisation from Virtus.

The latest is Virtus are still desperately trying to find a reason to kick Anna out. They are going to disregard the scores at 5, 10 and 13, along with the 55 plus documents we have provided. The reasons are ridiculous. Although, they were pinning everything on a smoking gun for the test Anna completed at 10, the 73 does not give them what they want. So they have said the tests at 5 and 10 we not full tests. Well they were age appropriate. If they had said 76, then they would have accepted them and thrown Anna out. They also argued that in one of the tests a subset score was in the 80's. However, the other subsets had scores in the 50's, 60's and 70's. The average score came to 73. It is not unusual for someone with autism and learning impairment to have different strengths and weaknesses. For example, Anna is creative and is very good at art and music. There are other areas that make her vulnerable, very dependent on support and has proven that she is not safe to fend for herself.

We actually don't care if Anna plays in the ii3 category. Anna does not play just for medals. She has a lit of friends from around the World and she loves to meet up. The problem we have is how nasty Virtus have been and we do not respond well to being bullied and treated so badly.

So the upshot is Virtus wants Anna to do another test. Given our experience with the abuse and bias we got from the non independent assessor from the Netherlands, we do not trust them. We know they are going to fiddle the results. So we are going to demand that we choose who does it. They have an agenda, so it is going to be a fight.

It is funny that the Virtus UK tennis director has said she knew Anna has a learning disability when she first saw her at 10. She also commented in Nottingham just how many people were watching the final and that a number of people were saying just how good the tennis level was. Virtus will ruin this with their personal vendetta.

As you can tell, this has been an incredibly stressful time and Anna has had to have medication and counselling to get through it

Var · Challenger qualifying

AnnaM wrote:
Thanks for the support.

I think disability tennis is quite a niche area right now, but is growing and the top players are very watchable.

It is a shame that the governing body has an unfamathomable agenda regarding Anna. So they are ruining things and lots of players are concerned. Despite having three tests under the criteria Virtus are still moving the goalposts. They have failed to provide satisfactory documents for my Freedom of information request. Only 5 documents dated before the current events. The complaint letter is fully blacked out, even though we have a right to see the complaint and just the identity of the complainant should be redacted. We have been told by the UK governing body that the complaint is a baseless opinion with no evidence.

They pinned all their hopes on an assessment Anna had at 10. We were accused of lying and hiding pages from the report. We contacted the NHS to obtain the scores. It turned out that we were never sent the scores. The score at 10 was 73. We also discovered that Anna was tested at 5. We we sent that report and it was shocking in the problems Anna had. That was scored at 74.

The full test that Anna did at 13 was scored at 69. Virtus basically said that Anna cheated to get that score. Which is rubbish. We told Anna to try very hard, as we needed to know where she was. All her documentation and the first two tests confirm it was in line with her other reports.

We have found out that Virtus contacted Tennis Australia to get Anna thrown out of the Oz Open. Luckily, the organiser did not fall for this and said you can't kick Anna out without evidence and a completed investigation. More victimisation from Virtus.

The latest is Virtus are still desperately trying to find a reason to kick Anna out. They are going to disregard the scores at 5, 10 and 13, along with the 55 plus documents we have provided. The reasons are ridiculous. Although, they were pinning everything on a smoking gun for the test Anna completed at 10, the 73 does not give them what they want. So they have said the tests at 5 and 10 we not full tests. Well they were age appropriate. If they had said 76, then they would have accepted them and thrown Anna out. They also argued that in one of the tests a subset score was in the 80's. However, the other subsets had scores in the 50's, 60's and 70's. The average score came to 73. It is not unusual for someone with autism and learning impairment to have different strengths and weaknesses. For example, Anna is creative and is very good at art and music. There are other areas that make her vulnerable, very dependent on support and has proven that she is not safe to fend for herself.

We actually don't care if Anna plays in the ii3 category. Anna does not play just for medals. She has a lit of friends from around the World and she loves to meet up. The problem we have is how nasty Virtus have been and we do not respond well to being bullied and treated so badly.

So the upshot is Virtus wants Anna to do another test. Given our experience with the abuse and bias we got from the non independent assessor from the Netherlands, we do not trust them. We know they are going to fiddle the results. So we are going to demand that we choose who does it. They have an agenda, so it is going to be a fight.

It is funny that the Virtus UK tennis director has said she knew Anna has a learning disability when she first saw her at 10. She also commented in Nottingham just how many people were watching the final and that a number of people were saying just how good the tennis level was. Virtus will ruin this with their personal vendetta.

As you can tell, this has been an incredibly stressful time and Anna has had to have medication and counselling to get through it

Thats is such a nightmare for you all. I am sure that you will prevail and you can all get back to focussing solely on the tennis. Keep going. Anna is amazing and a ground breaker in her field. Good luck and thank you for sharing your challenges.

the challenges