The 48-year-old follows the path carved by Brad Parks, founder of wheelchair tennis who was inducted in 2010, and 2012 inductee and Barcelona 1992 men's singles champion Randy Snow.

Vandierendonck, one of the pioneering stars of the sport in the 1980s and 1990s, became the first in a long line of top-ranked Dutch female wheelchair tennis players, and she has taken an active role in helping to grow the sport around the world.

A talented able-bodied player in her youth, Vandierendonck was injured in a car accident in 1983 and quickly shifted into the wheelchair version after hearing about it from an uncle.

After being crowned the first ITF world champion in 1991, she went on to win the title on two more occasions along with seven singles and two doubles titles at various US Open Championships.

She was ranked world number one for a total of 136 weeks in singles, and also occupied the top position in doubles, but is best remembered for her Paralympic success.

After winning the women's singles gold medal at Seoul 1988, when wheelchair tennis was still a demonstration sport, she won two doubles gold medals and a singles silver and bronze at the Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 once the sport was awarded full medal status.

Camille Vandierendonck set a precedent for other Dutch stars including the seven time Paralympic gold medal winner Esther Vergeer ©AFP/Getty Images





"It is a tremendous honour to be the third wheelchair tennis player to be inducted," Vandierendonck said today after the announcement was made. 

"To follow the path of Brad Parks and Randy Snow who I have looked up to and especially to be the first woman and first Dutch person - it is all just a dream and thank you to everyone who chose me."

She added that when she started there was no wheelchair tennis in the Netherlands and she was their first player, so "maybe" had some role to play in inspiring the legion of strong players who followed her path, before describing her first US Open and World Championship victories as the highlights of her career.

Vandierendonck was one of five figure inducted today along with former women's world number one and six time Grand Slam champion Lindsey Davenport as well as coach Nick Bollettieri, administrator Jane Brown-Grimes and British broadcaster John Barrett.

The Class of 2014 Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony is due to be held later this year on Saturday July 12. 

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