With the Paris Paralympic Games in full swing, Google unveiled a special Google Doodle on September 3 to celebrate wheelchair tennis at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

Wheelchair tennis was founded in 1976 by American freestyle skier Brad Parks. The sport follows the same rules as tennis, but has been adopted with some adjustments.

With its doodle, Google has tried to honor the athleticism and determination of the players by celebrating wheelchair tennis. The Google Engaged Doodle features animated birds.

In the drawing, Google showed two birds playing tennis in wheelchairs in the pristine Parisian garden of Jardin du Palais Royal, or Jardin des Tuileries.

The wheelchair tennis events, which began on August 30 during the Paris Paralympic Games, will conclude on September 7 at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, known for its clay court. The tournament will feature singles and doubles matches in the men’s, women’s and quad categories.

On September 3, Japanese tennis player Yui Kamiji, French D. De Groot and Chinese ZY Wang reached the semi-finals in the women’s singles. While the match between Chinese XH Li and French A van Koot is still ongoing.

Fastest growing wheelchair sports in the world:

According to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), wheelchair tennis is one of the fastest growing wheelchair sports in the world.

It gained momentum in the 1980s, when France became the first country in Europe to develop a dedicated wheelchair tennis program.

Wheelchair tennis was first introduced at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympic Games.

While the size of the court, rackets and tennis balls remain unchanged, the rules are different, including the ‘two-bounce rule’, which states that the ball is allowed to bounce twice before being hit.

In addition to the Paralympic Games, athletes compete in a range of tournaments including Grand Slams: Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open, plus the Masters in singles and doubles.

Wheelchair tennis is also regulated by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).