You won’t find a more inspiring tennis story than the one Landon Sachs is currently writing. Landon is currently on a scholarship to play wheelchair tennis at the University of Arizona.
“The campus was super accessible,” he told the Tennis Channel. “I think I’ll probably learn a lot from the people who go there.”
Sachs has arrived at this point as the survivor of a tragedy of unspeakable proportions. On 9 February 2014, for reasons still unknown, Landon’s older brother, Ashton, shot and killed both of their parents, Brandon and Andra, in their home in San Juan Capistrano, California.
Landon, eight years old at the time, was also shot by Ashton. He survived but was paralysed from the waist down. Landon’s care and well-being was taken over by his older brother, Myles.
“It all stems from a promise I made to my mother many moons ago,” Myles said in an NBC story. “If anything happened to her, I would do whatever it took to make sure everyone stayed together.”
In the autumn of 2021, Amy Hemphill, dean of athletics and an English teacher at Landon’s school, JSerra Catholic High School, started an adaptive tennis programme. She suggested that Landon try the sport. “He was just the all-around athletic type,” Myles said.
But like all beginning tennis players, Landon struggled at first. “All I knew was hit the ball, hit the ball back,” Landon told the Los Angeles Times last year.
Over time, however, his skills improved rapidly. And the tenacity that had carried Landon through nearly a decade of hard times began to emerge.
“Landon hates to lose,” said his high school coach, Keith Orahood. “That’s what helped him get better.”
Within a year, Landon had become one of the top wheelchair players in the U.S. Along the way, he became the first wheelchair athlete in his county’s high school history to play against a fully able-bodied opponent.
Another highlight came when Landon travelled to Rome, Ga. and finished second in the USTA Junior National Wheelchair Championships.
“Tennis has a way of helping someone who has lost their focus,” said Jason Harnett, USTA Director of Wheelchair Tennis. “Sports are kind of magical in that way.”
In time, Landon hopes to play at Wimbledon and the US Open. His advice to others is direct and powerful.
“Don’t be too reluctant to try a new sport,” Landon said. “It can be daunting. It was for me. But once you try a new sport, it might change your future.
