I went into the coaching relation with Esther Vergeer from a perspective of:

What can they do. What is their disability or what holds them back?

I was just totally taken away. The attitude of Esther was so much like:

“Okay, what can I do next?”, What can I do better?”, “What can I learn?”, “What can I improve?”

She was all about learning new skills and setting new goals. This for me was like the lights went on and I was just not expecting that. That gave me such a motivation. Also, with the able bodies’ players, that I was working at the same time. So Esther motivated me because, yes, the disability was physical, but it didn’t give her any disability in her life in the sense that her wanting to achieve her goals, nothing would come in front of her, that she would not try to overcome or would overcome being undefeated for so long (470 matches).

She would still approach every match, every practice so deliberately prepared and concentrated, and never took it for granted that she was a leading lady of wheelchair tennis.

The level of commitment that she showed to me was phenomenal. I got a lot of respect for wheelchair tennis because not only Esther, but the entire community is so dedicated and determined in overcoming obstacles. Obstacles was and is part of their life and they embrace it. Sometimes I feel that the able-bodied players are not embracing obstacles. They are avoiding obstacles and wheelchair tennis; they are not afraid of obstacles. I find that they are really, brave, really brave.

Want to listen to the full episode with Sven Groeneveld? 👇🏻
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