COLORADO, USA — Two 17-year-olds from Colorado were selected to represent the United States in the wheelchair tennis junior team that won the 2024 BNP Paribas World Team Cup in Antakya, Turkey.
Thornton resident Sabina Czauz and Tomas Majetic, of Boulder, were part of a team that won a fifth all-time title with a 2-0 win over Australia. The U.S. team last won the competition in 2017, and it was the first time in seven years that they’ve won the title.
“It was cool just to be there,” Czauz said. “I didn’t expect to get many matches because it was my first time. I was just soaking it all in.”
The tournament was the first time Czauz played on the U.S. world team — and she played in four matches.
“I loved it,” she said. “People’s first time in world team cup, they don’t tend to play, maybe but one match and then that’s it, and then I played four, and I was like, ‘That’s crazy.’”
It was Majetic’s second time representing the U.S. on the world stage, and he was glad to get the win. He said it brought back memories of his first World Team Cup.
“I was very new [and] I barely got any matches. I was kind of looking at the big dogs,” Majetic said. “Now to be considered a big dog, it’s kind of crazy to think about.”
Winning the world cup may have been hard to consider four years ago, when they were both introduced to the sport by Kendall Chitambar.
Majetic, who was born with spina bifida and Czauz, who was born with neuropathy, don’t have full use of their legs. They were both playing wheelchair basketball when the pandemic hit in 2020. After all contact sports were canceled, they were looking for another sport to stay active and socially distanced.
“It was during COVID, and I was bored at home, and I really didn’t know what to do,” Majetic said. “So, then we found Kendall and went to our first practice.”
“Tomas invited me down for a practice and kind of fell in love with it,” Czauz said. “Four years ago, it was a hobby, and I wouldn’t’ go anywhere, and it's insane how far I’ve come and how basically tennis is my whole life now.”
Czauz and Majetic got their opportunity through the United States Tennis Association (USTA), USTA Colorado and the Colorado Wheelchair Tennis Foundation (CWTF). These three groups promote tennis growth by helping youth with disabilities learn how to play the sport.
“I believe one of the issues that wheelchair athletes are consistently faced with is the perception that they are not true 'professional' athletes,” said Colby Kortum, president and executive director of the CWTF. "Although Tomas and Sabina don’t move around the court in the same fashion as their able-bodied counterparts, they quite often perform at a higher skill level in order to overcome the physical side of movement."
Both Czauz and Majetic are coached by Dr. Scott Douglas and Chitambar, who met the two tennis players four years ago. The two coaches agree that, with the help of the tennis organizations, more disabled athletes are competing and breaking stereotypes.
“Living with a disability is challenging, but what is more challenging is overcoming negativity and people telling you that you can't do something,” Douglas said. "Both Sabina and Tomas are maturing and breaking down these barriers put in front of them because they have a disability."
“Without those organizations, we don't have a sport. Without those organizations, we don't have the opportunities to play, we don't have the opportunities to do outreach to find these kids,” Chitambar added. “It's incredible to see the levels of development that has been provided for these kids. And now I would love to see us all go back to the grassroots because there are a ton of kids out there that are waiting to get involved with something like this.”
Julie Taulman is the president and CEO of the National Sports Center for the Disabled, a Colorado-based group that provides outdoor sports experiences for people with disabilities. She said she’s seeing more athletes participating in adaptive sports.
“I think the word's gotten out for people that just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you have to sit on the sidelines,” Taulman said. “Move United quoted this last year, they’ve seen close to 95,000 participants across the United States that are active in adaptive sport, which is huge, and that’s over 241 different agencies across the United States.”
For both Czauz and Majetic, the focus is on spreading a message so that other tennis players with disabilities can have more control on the courts.
“Every time I do an exhibition, or someone sees me play, they didn’t know wheelchair tennis was a thing,” Majetic said. “A lot of it is just getting the word out there to get people watching it.”
Czauz and Majetic will be playing at the US Open in September. Looking ahead, both of them have their eyes on the 2028 Summer Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
“We have the Paralympics, we have the Grand Slam, now Juniors, U.S. Open,” Czauz said. “Now we’ve got everything, basically, that abled bodies have, and it’s really amazing.”
