Ahmet Kaplan (born 1 January 2002) is a Turkish wheelchair tennis player who competes in the quad class of international level events.[1][2]
| Country (sports) |  Turkey | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residence | Mersin, Turkey | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 1 January 2002 Akdeniz, Mersin, Turkey | ||||||||||||||
| Plays | Right-handed,[1] | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Last updated on: 6 June 2024. | |||||||||||||||
Career
edit2022
editKaplan started his wheelchair tennis career competing in the quad category in 2022. He won attention for his performance at tournaments organized by the Turkish Physically Disabled Sports Federation (Turkish: Türkiye Bedensel Engelliler Spor Federasyonu, TBESF).[3]
He ranked second in the singles event of the Tenis Akıncılar Qualifying Tournament, and became champion in the doubles event at the International Aspendos Open in Antalya. Moreover, he won the gold medal in the doubles event at the TBESF Open Tournament, took the silver medal in the doubles event of the International Antalya Open Tournament the same year.[3]
With his performance, he rose from the 76th place to 53rd in the world ranking.[3]
2023
editHe participated at the Johor Open 2023 Tennis Tournament in Malesia.[2]
He took part at the 2023 US Open – Men's Wheelchair Tennis. He lost the first round match in the quad singles event to Dutch Sam Schröder. He and his teammate Uğur Altınel lost the quarter-final match in the quad doubles event against Tomáš Masaryk from Slovakia and Brazilian Ymanitu Silva.[4]
He won the bronze medal in the quad singles event of the 2023 European Para Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands.[5]
2024
editIn January 2024, Kaplan took part at the Grand Slam level Australian Open – Men's Wheelchair Tennis. He lost the first round match of the quad singles event against Dutch Niels Vink.[6] He and his Slovak teammate Tomáš Masaryk lost the first round match in the quad doubles event to Donald Ramphadi (South Africa) and Guy Sasson (Israel).[7]
In June 2024, Kaplan won his first ITF title defeating Canadian Robert Shaw in the final match at the Open International de Royan 2024 Tennis Tournament in France.[8]
In May 2024, Kaplan competed in the quad singles event of the Tram Barcelona Open. He defeated world's number 4 Donald Ramphadi from South Africa, but lost to world's number 1 in the final. He finished the tournament as runner-up.[9]
As of end May 2024, Kaplan won four champion titles, and rose to the world rank 8 in quad singles. He helped the Turkey wheelchair tennis quad team become world number 2.[10]
He missed out on a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Quad singles, after being defeated by Guy Sasson of Israel.[11]
Personal life
editAhmet Kaplan was born on 1 January 2002, and lives in Akdeniz, Mersin, southern Turkey.[2][3]
At age eight, he lost his legs due to electric shock accident in the Akdeniz district of Mersin.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b "Ahmet Kaplan Wheelchair Tennis Singles Overview". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ a b c "UTF Malezia Open 2023" (in Turkish). Mersin Gençlik ve Spor İl Müdütlüğü. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Çakar, Ali (29 May 2024). "Milli Para Tenisçi Ahmet Kaplan Kimdir, Kaç Yaşında, Aslen Nereli ve Hayatı". Kınık Gazetesi (in Turkish). Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ "Ahmet Kaplan". US Open. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ "Ahmet Kaplan'dan Bronz Madalya" (in Turkish). Türkiye Tenis Federasyonu. 12 August 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ "Niels Vink vs Ahmey Kaplan". Australia Open. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ "A. Kaplan/T Masarık vs D. Ramphadi/G. Sasson". Australia Open. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ "Milli para tenisçi Ahmet Kaplan, Fransa'da şampiyon oldu". NTV (in Turkish). 2 June 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ "Ahmet Kaplan'dan Tarihi Başarı". Türk Spor Ajansı (in Turkish). 29 May 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ "Ahmet Kaplan "dünya 8 numarası" oldu". TRT Spor (in Turkish). 29 May 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ "Tennis player Guy Sasson claims bronze, Israel’s ninth medal at Paralympics," The Times of Israel.