The Dutchwoman is a former wheelchair tennis player herself, competing at both the Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games and earning a bronze medal in the South Korean capital.

She joined the ITF in 1991 as the sole member of the wheelchair tennis department. 

"I had a desk and a telephone, and nothing else," de Lange said.

"There were no files, and no one really telling me what to do."

The Para-sport has now established itself in almost 100 of the 210 ITF member nations, with de Lange also creating a junior programme to aid the development of players. 

Despite the progress made, the 55-year-old revealed the biggest challenges are still to come for wheelchair tennis.

This included increased media coverage, improved collaboration with the Grand Slam and other high-profile events, and classification.

De Lange claimed the biggest challenge of all was ensuring wheelchair tennis continued to grow. 

"We have had those luxury years where we made big steps, because we didn't have so many nations who were part of the programme," she said. 

"We have more nations now, so now we need to make sure that we get more players from developing nations. 

"Our junior programme has been great, and I have to say the same about our development programme, which is reflected in the rankings. 

"We need to make sure that we can continue these programmes and that we can create opportunities in these nations."

De Lange also discussed increasing the number of opportunities for recreational players.

"Right now, even as a recreational player, at a certain level you have to travel the world to play at a high level," she said.

"Ideally a player would compete locally, then nationally, then maybe within their region, rather than having to travel the world so soon into their development. 

"Hopefully we will succeed in creating more opportunities at the lower level for recreational players."