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epa03557709 WHEELCHAIR TENNIS PACKAGE AUSTRALIAN OPEN....French player Stephane Houdet in action during a men's singles match in the wheelchair competition at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 23 January 2013. Houdet was an accomplished able-bodied junior tennis player in France before he had a motorbike accident at the age 24. He began playing wheelchair tennis when he was 34. Wheelchair Tennis took place in the First Grand Slam of the Year In Melbourne Park from 23-28 January 2013, Australia. The top seven ranked players from the various countries plus a wirldcard entry participated from the men and women events. In the 1970s Brad Parks, an acrobatic skier who suffered an injury which leaves him paraplegic, and wheelchair athlete Jeff Minnenbraker started promoting wheelchair tennis. In 1977 the Los Angeles City Parks and Recreation Department hosted the first ever wheelchair tennis tournament with around 20 players. EPA/Narendra Shrestha