Daniela "Danni" Di Toro (born 16 October 1974) is an Australian

wheelchair tennis Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designed wheelchairs, ...

and table tennis player. Di Toro was the 2010

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

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, where she was team captain with

Kurt Fearnley Kurt Harry Fearnley, (born 23 March 1981) is an Australian wheelchair racer, who has won gold medals at the Paralympic Games and 'crawled' the Kokoda Track. He has a congenital disorder called sacral agenesis which prevented fetal developme ...

. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, her sixth Paralympics, she was the team captain and Opening Ceremony flag bearer with

Ryley Batt Ryley Batt, (born 22 May 1989) is an Australian wheelchair rugby player. He has won two gold and one silver medal at five Paralympic Games. Biography Ryley Douglas Batt was born on 22 May 1989 without legs and had surgery to separate his ...

Personal life

Daniela Di Toro was born on 16 October 1974 in

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung–Taungurung language, Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the St ...

. She became a

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...

in 1988 in an accident while competing at a school swimming carnival, when a wall fell on her. While in hospital, following her accident, Di Toro met

Sandy Blythe Robert Alexander "Sandy" Blythe, OAM (24 February 1962 – 18 November 2005) was an Australian wheelchair basketball player. He became a paraplegic due to a car accident in 1981, and went on to participate in the Australia men's national whe ...

, a member of the Australian Rollers. He inspired her to continue to pursue sports. She lives in the Melbourne suburb of Thornbury 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. In 2017, she was appointed Paralympics Australia's Athlete Engagement and Wellbeing Officer, and Vice Chairperson of the Athlete Commission.

Wheelchair tennis

, Di Toro is classified as

Paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...

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. She was once a scholarship holder at the

Victorian Institute of Sport The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succe ...

. As a professional tennis player, Di Toro has won more than three hundred matches. She is coached by Greg Crump. She trains at the Tennis Centre and Nunawading. Her club tennis is with Wheelchair Sport Victoria. 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. In 2010, Di Toro competed in the women's double tennis events at the four major tennis events. Her partners were

Lucy Shuker Lucy Shuker (born 28 May 1980) is a British wheelchair tennis player who is currently the highest ranked woman in the sport in Britain. A previous singles & doubles National Champion, Lucy has represented Great Britain at three successive Para ...

of Great Britain and

Aniek Van Koot Aniek van Koot (born 15 August 1990) is a Dutch wheelchair tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles. Van Koot is a 23-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2013 Australian Open, 2013 US Open and 2019 Wimbledon ...

of Holland. 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.

Paralympics

Di Toro has competed as wheelchair tennis player in 4 consecutive Paralympic Games: Atlanta 1996,

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Athens 2004 The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

and

Beijing 2008 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. She won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Games in the Women's Doubles event, 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. 020912 - Daniela Di Toro - 3b - 2012 Summer Paralympics

020912 - Daniela Di Toro - 3b - 2012 Summer Paralympics

Kobe Open

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

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 Paralympic 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 The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

'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

. 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 The 2010 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 114th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 23 May through ...

, beating

Esther Vergeer Esther Mary Vergeer (; born 18 July 1981) is a Dutch former professional wheelchair tennis player. Vergeer won 48 major titles (21 in singles and 27 in doubles), 23 year-end championships (14 consecutive in singles and nine in doubles), and s ...

and

Sharon Walraven Sharon Walraven (born 19 June 1970, Schaesberg) is a Dutch wheelchair tennis player. She became paraplegic at age 23 after complications following a fall while she was ice-skating. She has won seven Grand Slams doubles titles partnering compatri ...

. 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 The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the governing body for all national table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the p ...

(ITTF) Oceania Para-Table Tennis Championships. This was her first international para-table tennis competition after her move from wheelchair tennis. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she lost both matches in the Women's Singles Class 4 and failed to advance. At the 2019 Oceania Para Table Tennis Championships, Darwin, she won the gold medal in the Women's Class 2–5. At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, she lost both matches in the Women's Singles Class 4 and failed to advance. Di Toro competed at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

in the Women's singles C3-5 but did nor progress past the group stage.

Recognition

230821 Flagbearer announcement Di Toro Batt Tokyo KM edit

In 1999, Di Toro was named the Australian Paralympian of the Year. In 2000, she received an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

, and in 2001, she was named the Young Victorian of the Year. In 2010, she was nominated as the Most Outstanding athlete with a disability by

Tennis Australia Tennis Australia Limited is the governing body for Tennis in Australia. It is owned by Australian states and territories. The association organises national and international Tennis tournaments including the Australian Open, the Australian Open S ...

. She was appointed team captain with

for the Australian Team at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. In November 2019, Batt with

Daniela di Toro Daniela "Danni" Di Toro (born 16 October 1974) is an Australian wheelchair tennis and table 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 ...

was named co-captain of the Australian Team at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. On 23 August 2021, di Toro and Batt were announced as the flagbearers for the Australian team for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics opening ceremony. In 2022, she was awarded

Paralympics Australia Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian te ...

President’s Award.

Performance timelines

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

Wheelchair singles

Wheelchair doubles

References

External links

*
Table Tennis Australia Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Di Toro, Daniela 1974 births Living people Australian female tennis players Australian wheelchair tennis players Acupuncturists Wheelchair category Paralympic competitors Paralympic wheelchair tennis players of Australia Paralympic table tennis players of Australia Paralympic medalists in wheelchair tennis Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Wheelchair tennis players at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair tennis players at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair tennis players at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair tennis players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair tennis players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics People with paraplegia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Sportswomen from Victoria (Australia) Victorian Institute of Sport alumni Tennis players from Melbourne ITF World Champions 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian women Sportspeople from Melbourne