Brad Penner/USTAJustin DeSanto met Casey Ratzlaff in 2017 at Wichita State University and agreed to coach him when it became obvious tennis mattered to Ratzlaff.
“Working with someone who was chasing a professional career and wanting to do this for a living was very appealing,” said DeSanto, now men’s coach at Dartmouth College. “You knew were going to get that buy-in at every practice, and that’s what I got with Casey.”
The team that started at WSU’s Coleman Tennis Complex grew into one of the most successful in wheelchair tennis. Ratzlaff, a sport management major at Wichita State, will play in the men’s open division in the Paris Paralympics Games starting Friday. He is the top-ranked American and seeded No. 13 in the 64-man field.
“It’s all going well, and I’m going to continue to push myself to reach higher heights,” Casey said. “Justin learned wheelchair tennis and embraced it very quickly. It’s a great partnership.”
The Paralympics are meaningful to Ratzlaff, a Wichitan who was born with spina bifida, because COVID limited his experience in the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.
Justin DeSanto
“I’m really excited to compete,” he said. “This is my first real, full Paralympics, and I really want to enjoy it and take it all in.”
That will cap a year in which he became the first American to compete at Wimbledon in the men’s wheelchair division. He also played in the British Open, the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, World Team Cup and won the Austria Open.
DeSanto, an assistant coach at Wichita State in 2017, loved Ratzlaff’s determination and willingness to take coaching. Nick Taylor, a three-time gold medalist Paralympian and director of operations for the Shockers, worked with Ratzlaff and helped DeSanto get acclimated to wheelchair sport.
“Nick is an absolute inspiration,” DeSanto said.
DeSanto’s work with Ratzlaff, 25, focused on taking his athletic gifts and grit and
refining his approach and focus. Ratzlaff followed DeSanto to the University of Alabama
at Birmingham and then to Dartmouth to continue to train. Ratzlaff works as an assistant coach at Dartmouth.
“He has a great tennis mind,” Casey said. “He took me under his wing.”
Nick Taylor
DeSanto described his work as “house-keeping” Ratzlaff to a higher level. Reminding Ratzlaff to warm up correctly. Working with him on strategy during a match, especially important as his competition improved. Reminding him to leave his phone in the locker room during practice. He encouraged Ratzlaff to journal.
“He was already a great player,” DeSanto said. “It was me teaching him what he can accomplish. He is always going to put his head down and do what you ask him to do.”
Ratzlaff believes his experience in 2020 and in the recent Grand Slam tournaments will help him in Paris.
“The slams are quite a bit different than anything else you will play,” he said. “It really helps mature your game. You are handling high-pressure situations and learn how to respond to different environments.”
