Meet: Phoebe Suthers, the deaf teenager competing in the World Deaf Tennis Championships

From a school in West Yorkshire to winning silver for Team GB in Slovenia aged 13, deaf young tennis player Phoebe Suthers has been described as “one of the brightest prospects” in deaf tennis. Ahead of the World Deaf Tennis Championships this month, Liam O’Dell hears more from the 16-year-old about her love for the sport, and how’s she’s gearing up for the competition.  

“I first fell in love with tennis when I attended a tennis session at my local high school when I was younger,” says Phoebe. “My enjoyment and natural ability was recognised so I decided to take it further because I loved attending the sessions so much.”

While Phoebe – who was born deaf – discovered the sport in PE lessons, it was through an advert that her mother found out more about deaf tennis. They attended a Tennis Foundation Deaf Tennis Camp together. Later that year, aged only 12, Phoebe stepped onto a court in Nottingham as a competitor in her first ever National Deaf Tennis Championships.

She soon climbed up the medal table. It was in Nottingham she where she won bronze in the Under 18 Girls’ category. Silverware came in 2016 when she won in both girls singles and doubles in the European Deaf Championships in Portoroz, Slovenia. Gold standard success came after winning the She then won her first international gold medal in the Under 18 mixed doubles with the help of teammate and fellow Brit Esah Hayat.

When it comes to the difference tennis has made to her life, Phoebe doesn’t know where to start. “I’ve made some amazing friends,” she says, “both hearing and deaf, and I enjoy socialising and playing tennis with them.”

Her father Shaun agrees. “Playing tennis has helped her develop as a person off the court as well. She has made new friends and Phoebe has developed skills such as resilience, teamwork, planning and fair play. We are very proud of her.

“Phoebe is very determined and committed to reaching her goals,” he concludes.

After winning in the National Championships at the weekend, the next goal for the teenager is to win big at the World Deaf Tennis Championships later this month – with two-time Deaflympic Games medallist and the Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) Great Britain Deaf Tennis coach Cathy Fletcher selecting her to join the team.

Phoebe aims to win a medal in an event at the contest, and has a lengthy training routine to get her there.

“I compete or train most days,” she says. “I normally compete on a weekend and in school holidays and train during the week.

“I have a couple of squads during the week and a lesson with my coach Matt Smith, who has improved my game massively since he joined the club,” Phoebe adds. “I’m also part of the local academy and train with them Tuesday afternoons and I’m grateful that my school allows me to do this.”

As for Phoebe’s advice for others, she says it’s about getting involved and meeting people. “I’ve got to visit places I wouldn’t otherwise have been to,” she explains. “When I was born deaf I never imagined I’d be living such a great life and my parents didn’t, either.

Deaf tennis is part of the LTA’s Open Court programme, which is one of the biggest disability-specific sports development programmes in the country. It supports 500 venues in the UK offer disability tennis sessions to their local community.

More information about deaf tennis and disability sports can be found on LTA’s website.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and blogger from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.