Wichita State University student -- and Wichita native -- Casey Ratzlaff has become
the No. 1 wheelchair tennis player in the United States.Courtesy John C. Cornell
The best wheelchair tennis player in America is a 19-year-old from Wichita
The first question is always, 'How did he get so good?'
The sight of Casey Ratzlaff ripping forehands from his wheelchair on the tennis courts
at Genesis still attracts a handful of curious bystanders, most of the time oblivious
to who they are watching.
"That's the No. 1 wheelchair player in the United States," Justin DeSanto, an assistant
men's tennis coach at Wichita State, who trains with Ratzlaff.
The next question from wide-eyed observers is always the same: 'Where is he from?'
"It's actually kind of crazy that so many people don't know he's from Wichita," DeSanto
said.
For now, Ratzlaff, a 2016 Maize High graduate and Wichita State student, is still
mostly anonymous in his hometown, even though he has become the best wheelchair tennis
player in the country before his 20th birthday.