The 21st century
Belgium · born Limelette, 1988 · Wimbledon singles champion 2021 · Wimbledon doubles champion 2019
All playersBack to the rankings
1
Wimbledon singles title, 2021
6-2, 7-6
Wimbledon final against Gordon Reid, 2021
6
Major titles in singles and doubles
4
Wheelchair Masters singles titles, 2015 to 2019
Born in Limelette in 1988, Gérard came to tennis at about 12 and trained on the tennis-études programme in Louvain-la-Neuve. He played his first Paralympics in Beijing in 2008, aged 20, and won singles bronze in Rio in 2016 by beating Stéphane Houdet; he is the only Belgian to win a Paralympic medal in wheelchair tennis. He reached world No. 1 in singles in December 2016 and won the Wheelchair Masters singles four times between 2015 and 2019. His six major titles are the Australian Open and Wimbledon singles in 2021 and four in doubles, the first at the 2014 French Open. He carried the Belgian flag at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympics, played his last Wimbledon in 2025 and his last official tournament that September.
| Major singles titles | 1: Wimbledon (2021) |
|---|---|
| Major doubles titles | 1: Wimbledon (2019) |
| Other grass doubles titles | 1: British Open (2024) |
| Wimbledon doubles | 2019 title with Stefan Olsson, beating Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid 6-4, 6-2; finals lost 2018 (with Olsson) and 2021 (with Tom Egberink), both to Hewett and Reid |
| Wimbledon singles | Semi-finals 2016, 2018 and 2022 |
| Queen's Club | 2022 singles, beating Stéphane Houdet 6-1, 6-2, and doubles with Andrew Penney, on the same day |
| British Open, Roehampton | 2024 doubles with Martín de la Puente, beating Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers 1-6, 6-2, 10-7 |
| Final to remember | Wimbledon 2021, Court No. 3: beat Gordon Reid 6-2, 7-6 (2) after Reid came back from 1-4 in the second set |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Men's wheelchair doubles | with Stefan Olsson |
| 2021 | Men's wheelchair singles | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. † single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"I knew I could do one Grand Slam, I knew I could do two and I know I can do many more."
The person behind the player.
Belgium · aged 12
He grew up in a sporting family and tried golf, swimming, climbing, badminton, squash and table tennis before tennis came along late. "J'ai essayé le tennis. Tout de suite, j'ai accroché," he said: he tried tennis and was hooked at once. He put his quick progress down to fitness from about ten hours of swimming a week.
Source: La Libre BelgiqueMelbourne 2014
His chair travelled badly to Australia: two welds on the frame gave way in flight and the anti-tip wheel broke. After an appeal on the radio, a replacement part was sent out. He played his first warm-up match in Melbourne in another player's chair, won it, then went back to his own, partly repaired.
Source: L'AvenirWimbledon 2021 · Court No. 3
Gérard admitted that the partisan Wimbledon crowd used to rattle him into missing balls; now he concentrated on his own game. He joked that he knew the crowd's songs from earlier years, and that one chant about Reid and Hewett from their doubles days had stayed in his head for years. He then beat Reid in the final.
Source: ITFParis 2024
He carried Belgium's flag at the opening ceremony of his last Paralympics: "Being at the heart of the Belgian delegation meant a lot to me." He lost in the second round to Gaëtan Menguy in a final-set tiebreak, then said he would stop in a year, so as not to have to find a job straight after the Games.
Source: ITFWimbledon 2025
Before his last Wimbledon, drawn against Reid in the first round, he explained grass: "Il faut dépenser deux fois plus d'énergie," twice the energy of other surfaces. He felt sadness, he said, because it remained a magnificent tournament, but called himself a solitary person who would find other chapters to write. Reid won 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (6).
Source: La DHBelgium 2026
Three months after his last tournament he described his 25-year career as an amusement park rather than a rollercoaster. The ITF ranking had him No. 1 at the end of 2016, but he did not count it: "Dans mon cœur, je ne l'ai jamais été," he said, in his heart he never was. He rated 2016 and 2021 his best years.
Source: L'AvenirFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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