San Diego native Dana Mathewson, the top-ranked Team USA wheelchair tennis player, is preparing for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris. Dana has excelled worldwide, ranking #1 in the US, #8 in doubles, and #9 in singles.
career highlights include Para Pan American Games Santiago 2023 Singles and Doubles Gold Medalist, 2017 US Open Quarterfinalist,
and 2022 Wimbledon Doubles Champion. Dana, a wheelchair tennis star, is targeting the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games after playing a vital role in the 2009-2011 and 2015-2022 World Cup teams.
At 10, Dana was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, a rare inflammatory illness that required a wheelchair. Her mother researched adaptive sports for Dana while she was hospitalized. Dana attempted rugby and basketball before discovering tennis. The fit was ideal.
Dana's first tennis camp was in Coronado, CA, near San Diego, at 13. She met national coaches and ex-Team USA Paralympians.
them changed Dana, as she saw them as role models for what she could achieve via tennis. She had never seen or heard of wheelchair tennis before the clinic, but it gave her the confidence and excitement to play competitively.
The University of Arizona recruited Dana as she approached college age, where she competed and improved. Dana entered the professional world with the encouragement of her coaches and mother, who saw her potential. She set lofty ambitions like competing in the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Dana's mother is her strongest supporter and vital to her tennis and life success. Dana said her mother helped her, "She's never let my disability define me." Dana's mother encouraged her to take charge of her situation.