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The United States Tennis Association's
announcement comes five days after the national governing body
said it was rethinking their decision and that it could have
better communicated with wheelchair athletes.
"The decision was made following multiple virtual meetings with
a group of wheelchair athletes and the International Tennis
Federation over the last week," the USTA said in a statement.
"The 2020 U.S. Open Wheelchair Competition will feature men's
and women's singles and doubles and quad singles and doubles,
with draw sizes similar to past U.S. Opens."
Australian Paralympic tennis champion Dylan Alcott, who led the
player backlash and had described the exclusion as "disgusting
discrimination", thanked organisers for reversing the decision.
"I was in tears (when the event was excluded)," the twice U.S.
Open champion said on Australia's Channel Nine.
"It was just because it was so hard sometimes, growing up with a
disability, where able-bodied people decide which restaurant you
go in to, which school you go in to, which tennis tournaments
you can play.
"It's a huge turning point to show how supportive a community
can be and from the bottom of my heart, I can't say thanks
enough."
The changes at this year's U.S. Open in New York include no
spectators, reducing the number of teams in the men's and
women's doubles events by half, and the elimination of the mixed
doubles and juniors competitions.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Additional reporting by
Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Toby Davis / Peter
Rutherford)
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