Local wheelchair tennis star prepares for major main-draw debut at US Open Wheelchair Championships
Kendall Flynn
THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) – Charlie Cooper is a wheelchair tennis professional from La Quinta who was born with spina bifida, which affects his spine and motion. He has quickly become a known name in the junior wheelchair tennis world, and with his success he’s now hitting the major main-draw stage.
In 2024 Cooper won the US Open Junior Wheelchair Championships for boy’s singles and he swept the boy’s singles and doubles at the 2025 Australian Open. His standout junior play at Melbourne Park gave him the wild card chance to play men’s singles.
Even though he’s set to play on a bigger stage, Cooper said he’s trusting his game play.
“I’m keeping everything the same right now,” Cooper said. “Just more tactics for sure It’s all about the technique and how long I could last with the big dogs and never really really getting to see that to test out here.”
US Open men’s singles play begins 11 a.m. EST in Queens, NY. His former local trainer Phillip Blake will be traveling from his gym in Palm Desert to help train him before his matches.
“It’s going to be on tournament grounds so it’s mostly going to be making sure like elbows and shoulders, wrists are warm and ready,” Blake said. “Historically he’s has a little bit of an elbow issue that’s popped up during tournaments, and so I’m going to be bringing a bunch of rehab gear…so he can play at his peak the whole time.”
Cooper and Blake have been working together for over three years, and they both say this is a special experience for both of them as Blake hasn’t seen Cooper play at a tournament of this level.
“Sometimes I work a little too hard or I push my body too much, but you know he’ll tell me when I need to ease off, especially before a tournament,” Cooper said. “He’s older than me, but he’s he’s like my best friend.”
“Being able to travel to New York to help him compete agains the best in the world, for me, personally it’s an absolute honor,” Blake said. “I just don’t have enough good things to say.”
Cooper also started men’s doubles play on Tuesday in the quarterfinals with Conner Stroud. But the pair fell short 6-0, 6-1 against Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid representing the United Kingdom.
Stay with News Channel 3 to hear from Cooper about his tournament preparations and from his local trainer on what it means to reach this level of play for a junior athlete.