Dana Mathewson, the most accomplished women’s wheelchair tennis player in US history, never minces words when discussing her transformation from a skeptical 10-year-old to a groundbreaking champion.
“I would be lying to you if I was like, ‘Yeah, I really love the idea of wheelchair sports. Really can’t wait to do this,'” Dana reveals about her initial reaction after being diagnosed with transverse myelitis, an autoimmune disease that attacked her spine and required her to use a wheelchair. “At that time in my life, that was horrible.”
Born and raised in San Diego, Dana was a typical active child with “almost no interest in tennis” until her life changed dramatically. “I was completely able-bodied. I was running sprints at soccer practice, and then next thing I knew, my back started to hurt really badly, and I couldn’t feel my legs in a matter of two hours,” she recounts.
Having never encountered anyone with a similar disability who wasn’t “someone’s grandparent or very, very disabled,” Dana couldn’t conceptualize adaptive sports. Her mother, a pediatrician, became her strongest advocate.
“My mom honestly didn’t care how I felt, and I’m so grateful for that,” Dana laughs. Her mother signed her up for basketball, wheelchair rugby, and wheelchair tennis—the sport that eventually “stuck” and led to a historic career.
That career included reaching World No. 7 in singles and World No. 4 in doubles, becoming the first American wheelchair tennis player to win a Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. With characteristic competitive spirit, Dana acknowledges, “I think I’m the best women’s wheelchair tennis player that there’s ever been in the United States, just in terms of rankings and things like that, which is crazy. I don’t think I’ve ever actually said that one out loud. That feels kind of cool to say.”
When asked what separated her from competitors, Dana points to her determination. “I’m really stubborn. I don’t really like to take no for an answer,” she explains. “In the sporting world, I think that’s great… you kind of have to have a bulldog mentality to want to keep grinding at it every day.”
Among Dana’s most treasured memories is spotting her family in a stadium of thousands during her first Paralympic Games. “The odds of being able to see my family within that crowd… was, like, really touching to me… I would say that that probably will go down as like my number one favorite sporting memory forever.”
Recently retired, Dana is navigating the transition from competitive athlete—a process she describes poignantly: “Someone told me that they had read a quote that said that every athlete dies twice in their life, and one of them is obviously the time that you actually pass away, but the other time is when you retire, because it is like a death of part of yourself.”
Despite this challenge, she’s embracing new opportunities in coaching junior players, tournament organization, and philanthropy while “trying to navigate different ways of finding out who the rest of me is, outside of competition.”
Through her tennis journey, Dana has gained valuable insights about perseverance and resilience. One particularly impactful lesson came from her mental skills coach, who taught her that “the difference between winning and losing is just doing okay about 53-54% of the match.” This revelation helped the self-described perfectionist understand that “not everything has to be perfect in order for it to be really good.”
Perhaps most powerful is her philosophy on problem-solving: “If you really want something… find a way to make it happen. And if one road doesn’t work out, try a different one.” She relates this to her experiences both in tennis and with disability: “There are different ways to get things done than you might perceive initially, and if something’s worth it to you, you’ll find a way to make it happen.”
Dana’s journey from reluctant participant to champion exemplifies the transformative power of persistence. As she eloquently puts it, echoing a tattoo she admires: “I will find a way, or I will make one.” It’s a philosophy that has served her well beyond the tennis court.
To Learn More about Dana, visit: danamathewson.net
Instagram @dana.mathewson
Facebook @dana.mathewson
Linkedin @dana-mathewson
“There are different ways to get things done than you might perceive initially, and if something’s worth it to you, you’ll find a way to make it happen.” Dana Mathewson
