The two were officially introduced as the Class of 2023 in an on-court ceremony at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam on Saturday (February 18), where they were welcomed by Hall of Famer Monique Kalkman-van den Bosch, several current wheelchair tennis stars, and a packed house of Dutch tennis fans.

Vergeer currently serves as tournament director of the ABN AMRO Open’s men’s and women’s wheelchair events, which run simultaneously to the Association of Tennis Professionals 500 event at the Rotterdam Ahoy.

Draney, a former world number one in the quad division of wheelchair tennis who went on to be a hugely influential administrator said: "It's been a long time since I've been that nervous and that excited going out on a tennis court like it was just a few minutes ago to experience this.

"The feeling is overwhelming.

"It's thrilling to see the little promo video and talk about the significance, importance and history that is involved with the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

"I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact that I am going to be a part of that, but I am thrilled for the opportunity."

Draney and Vergeer's induction will bring the number of wheelchair tennis players enshrined in the ITHF at Newport, Rhode Island to seven, and 2023 marks the first year that two wheelchair players will enter the Hall of Fame simultaneously.

The pair will join Brad Parks, Randy Snow, Chantal Vandierendonck, David Hall and Kalkman-van den Bosch in Newport's all-time annals.

Wheelchair tennis candidates are considered for election into the Hall of Fame every four years.

"I’m honoured to welcome Esther Vergeer and Rick Draney to the International Tennis Hall of Fame," said Kim Clijsters, ITHF Honorary President and Class of 2017 Hall of Famer.

"Esther and Rick have made indelible marks on the sport of wheelchair tennis, and their impact transcends their tremendous achievements on court."

One of the most dominant athletes in all sports, Vergeer was the world number one wheelchair tennis player for 668 weeks from October 2000 through to January 2013.

She won 44 Grand Slam titles combined between singles and doubles, eight Paralympic medals - including four singles golds and three doubles golds - and was a 13-time International Tennis Federation (ITF) world champion.

In all, Vergeer captured 169 singles titles, 136 doubles titles, and posted a singles career winning percentage of 96 per cent.

"I am very honoured that I will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and become part of history in the beautiful sport of tennis," Vergeer said.

"Tennis has been a very big, and very important, part of my life.

"It helped me grow into the person I am today, and I learned many lessons because I was able to play sports."

Vergeer said the honour was made even more special by the fact she was able to celebrate the accomplishment at home as she comes from Woerden, a city just 25 miles north of Rotterdam.

"We get a lot of support for wheelchair tennis [in the Netherlands] and then having it here with a home crowd, people that still reward me for what I did or appreciate what I did, or still do, maybe, for wheelchair tennis is amazing," she said.

"It gave me goosebumps going on court and getting the recognition in all kinds of ways, from the International Tennis Hall of Fame, but also from the home crowd, and having my family here."

Draney played a key role in the development of the quad division in wheelchair tennis and was also an accomplished player.

He was a three-time ITF year-end number one in quad singles and also reached number one in doubles, spending more than 100 weeks in the top spot in both disciplines.

His playing career began in 1984, and he captured 12 singles and six doubles titles at the Super Series level, the highest level of wheelchair competition before Grand Slam play began in 2002.

As an administrator, Draney served for nine years as the Tournament Committee chairperson of the US Open United States Tennis Association (USTA) Wheelchair Tennis Championships.

He was later given the USTA’s Brad Parks Award, which recognises outstanding career contributions to wheelchair tennis, in 2012, and won the ITF's Brad Parks Award for similar service internationally in 2017.

To earn election into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, candidates need to be chosen on 75 per cent of ballots of a voting contingent that includes media, historians, and previous Hall of Famers.

Nominees can remain in contention for three years.

Other players nominated this year, but not selected, were Cara Black of Zimbabwe, Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero, Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, Spaniard Carlos Moya, Daniel Nestor of Canada, Italian Flavia Pennetta and Lisa Raymond of the United States.