Daniela Di Toro

Daniela Di Toro (born 16 October 1974) is an Australian Wheelchair tennis player. Di Toro was the 2010 French Open doubles champion and has also been the Masters double champion. In singles Di Toro is the former world number one and two time masters finalist. In 2015, she moved to para-table tennis and represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.[1] She was team captain with Kurt Fearnley.

Daniela Di Toro

2016 Australian Paralympic Team portrait of Di Toro
Full name	Daniela Di Toro
Country (sports)	Australia
Residence	Melbourne, Australia
Born	16 October 1974 Melbourne, Australia
Turned pro	1988
Plays	Right Handed
Singles
Career record	394–115
Highest ranking	No. 1 (14 July 1998)
Current ranking	5
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	F (2002, 2003, 2004, 2011)
French Open	SF (2010)
US Open	F (2010)
Other tournaments
Masters	F (1995, 1996, 2010)
Paralympic Games	Bronze Medal (2004)
Doubles
Career record	256–77
Highest ranking	No. 1 (20 May 1997)
Current ranking	48
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	F (2010)
French Open	W (2010)
Wimbledon	F (2009, 2010)
US Open	F (2009, 2010)
Other doubles tournaments
Masters Doubles	W (2000)
Paralympic Games	Silver Medal (2000)
World Team Cup	Champion (1999)
Medal record Representing  Australia Women's wheelchair tennis Paralympic Games 2000 Sydney Women's Doubles 2004 Athens Women's Singles
Last updated on: 29 January 2012.

Personal life

Daniela Di Toro was born on 16 October 1974 in Melbourne, Victoria. She became a paraplegic in 1988 in an accident while competing at a school swimming carnival, when a wall fell on her.[2][3] While in hospital, following her accident, Di Toro met Sandy Blythe, a member of the Australian Rollers. He inspired her to continue to pursue sports. She lives in the Melbourne suburb of Thornbury[4] and she works as a youth worker in Melbourne. She graduated from Victoria University with a Bachelor of Chinese Medicine (Acupuncture and Herbs) in 2009.[3]

Competitive tennis

In the past I've always been so caught up in my own competition, I've missed out on seeing my friends compete and getting a sense of what people must feel when they're at a Paralympic Games. It's extraordinary.

Daniela Di Toro[2]

In wheelchair tennis, Di Toro is classified as Paraplegic T12/L1. She first started playing tennis when she was nine. She started playing wheelchair tennis in 1988, and started representing Australia in 1989, winning the Australian Open in 1991 – it would be her first of ten Australian Open titles. Internationally, she has been ranked as high as number one.[2] She was once a scholarship holder at the Victorian Institute of Sport.[5] As a professional tennis player, Di Toro has won more than three hundred matches. She is coached by Greg Crump.[4] She trains at the Tennis Centre and Nunawading.[5] Her club tennis is with Wheelchair Sport Victoria.[5]

At the end of the 2010 season, Di Toro was ranked second in the world. During the 2010 season, she reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, semifinals of the French Open and finals of the US Open. In 2010, she won the Japan Open and the Korean Open.[6] In 2010, Di Toro competed in the women's double tennis events at the four major tennis events. Her partners were Lucy Shuker of Great Britain and Aniek Van Koot of Holland.[7] Di Toro was injured in 2011, and had to pull out of the French and Korean Opens because her neck was inflamed. The injury happened while she was competing at the Japanese Open and was a herniated disc.[8]

Paralympics

Di Toro has competed at several Paralympic Games including Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.[2] She won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Games in the Women's Doubles event,[9] with Branka Pupovac as her partner. She won a bronze medal at the 2004 Games in the Women's singles event. She competed at the 2008 Paralympics, and was the only female wheelchair tennis player on the Australian team.[2]

Di Toro playing at the 2012 London Paralympics

Kobe Open

Di Toro won the Kobe Open in 2003 in the women's singles event.[5]

Retirement

In 2005, Di Toro retired from competitive tennis in order to spend more time studying Chinese medicine. She would end her career with 2 US Open titles, the 2000 Wheelchair Tennis Masters Doubles title, and a silver and bronze Olympic medal. Following her 2005 retirement, she continued to be active in the wheelchair tennis community by coaching young tennis players.

Return from retirement

In January 2007, Di Toro came out of retirement to compete in the Australian Open's Wheelchair Tennis Super Series event where she lost in the first round. She would have more success in doubles, where she made the semi-finals with partner Lucy Shuker. She made her first finals appearance after retirement at Wimbledon in 2009. She would go on to make 6 straight finals including winning the 2010 French Open, beating Esther Vergeer and Sharon Walraven. She also made two finals appearances in singles, at the 2010 US Open and 2011 Australian Open. In 2010, she made the finals of the Wheelchair Tennis Masters in singles.

Table Tennis

She is a Class 4 table tennis player. In April 2015, Toro dominated in the C3-5 competition at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Oceania Para-Table Tennis Championships. This was her first international para-table tennis competition after her move from wheelchair tennis.[10]

At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she lost both matched in the Women's Singles Class 4 and failed to advance.[11]

Recognition

In 1999, Di Toro was named the Australian Paralympian of the Year.[2] In 2000, she received an Australian Sports Medal,[12] and in 2001, she was named the Young Victorian of the Year.[13] In 2010, she was nominated as the Most Outstanding athlete with a disability by Tennis Australia.[6] She was appointed team captain with Kurt Fearnley for the Australian Team at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.[14] In November 2019, Batt with Daniela di Toro was named co-captain of the Australian Team at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.[15]

Tennis career statistics

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

A

NH

(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)

Grand Slam singles

**To prevent confusion, this table only includes the events which took place from 2002 onwards at the Grand Slam venues.

Tournament
	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Singles
Australian Open	F[16]	F[17]	F[18]	A	A	1R[19]	1R[20]	SF[21]	QF	F	QF
French Open	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	A	A	A	SF	A
US Open	NH	NH	NH	A	A	A	NH	QF	F	QF
Doubles
Australian Open	NH	NH	SF[18]	A	A	QF[22]	SF[20]	SF[21]	F	SF	SF
French Open	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	A	A	A	W	A
Wimbledon	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	F	F	A
US Open	NH	NH	NH	NH	A	A	NH	F	F	QF

Wheelchair Tennis Masters and Paralympic games

Tournament	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Wheelchair Tennis Masters
WTM Singles	NH	NH	NH	A	A	F[23]	SF[24]	A	SF[25]	RR	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	SF	F	RR
WTM Doubles	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	W[26]	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	RR	A	A
Paralympic Games
Singles	-	A	-	-	-	SF	-	-	-	QF	-	-	-	SF-B	-	-	-	1R	-	-	-
Doubles	-	A	-	-	-	SF	-	-	-	RU	-	-	-	?	-	-	-	A	-	-	-

References

1. "2016 Paralympic co-captain leads the way for 5-strong Para-table tennis team". Australian Paralympic Committee News. 27 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
2. "Daniela Di Toro". Australian Paralympic Committee. 2011. Archived from the original on 5 August 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
3. "Toro, Daniela". The Australian Women's Register. 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
4. "Daniela Di Toro". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
5. "Daniela Di Toro". Victorian Institute of Sport. 2010. Archived from the original on 13 August 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
6. "Di Toro caps off successful season". Tennis Australia. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
7. "Australian Tennis Awards winners announced". Tennis Australia. 4 December 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
8. "Di Toro suffers injury". Tennis Australia. 25 May 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
9. "Athlete Search Results". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
10. "Australia claims all four titles at ITTF Oceania Para-table tennis championships". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 15 April 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
11. "Daniela Di Toro". Rio Paralympics Official site. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
12. "Di Toro, Daniela: Australian Sports Medal". It's an Honour. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
13. "Victoria Day Awards". Victoria Day Council. Archived from the original on 28 March 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
14. "Fearnley and Di Toro to captain 2016 team". Australian Paralympic Committee News. 4 February 2016. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
15. "Di Toro and Batt to captain 2020 Australian Paralympic Team". Paralympics Australia. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
16. "2002 Australian Open". ITF. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
17. "2003 Australian Open". ITF. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
18. "2004 Australian Open". ITF. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
19. "2007 Australian Open". ITF. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
20. "2008 Australian Open". ITF. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
21. "2009 Australian Open". ITF. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
22. "2007 Australian Open". ITF. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
23. "1996 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters". ITF. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
24. "1997 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters 1999". ITF. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
25. "1999 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters 1999". ITF. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
26. "1999 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters 2000". ITF. Retrieved 29 January 2012.

External links

• Australian Paralympic Committee Profile
• Table Tennis Australia Profile
• Daniela Di Toro at Tennis Australia