Gary Luker

What is your earliest tennis memory? I remember playing tennis with my buddy just for fun, which was prior to my injury. I wasn't very good then. I'm a better tennis player in a wheelchair now. How, where, and when did you start playing? I started playing about a year after my accident, which would've been 2003. A good friend and former Team Canada teammate got me into the sport when I met him in the rehab centre. Also, my wife wouldn't get off my back until I went to try it. She was right. What made you decide to choose tennis? Tennis kind of chose me. It was the first sport I tried in a wheelchair and I just fell in love with it. It wasn't really a sport that I played competitively, so I found it easier to get into. Your biggest inspiration and why? I would say my kids are my biggest inspiration. Being able to show them that life is not over after a spinal cord injury. Favourite sport other than tennis? NFL Football Family, what do they do and how have they impacted your tennis career? I have a wife and two kids. My wife is an elementary school teacher. I didn't actually start playing competitive tennis until after I was married and that can take a lot of time and travel. Being away has never been a problem. She constantly encourages me to be my best. I would never be able to do what I do without the support she gives me as well as the rest of my family and friends. Favourite sports team? Denver Broncos Favourite athlete? Champ Bailey Favourite TV show? Narcos Favourite food? Chicken Wings Which actor/actress would play you in a movie? Tom Cruise Super power you wish you could have? Teleportation. Would like to avoid all of this travelling and just get to where I'm going faster. Secret obsession? Music, specifically Pearl Jam. What’s one thing people would be surprised to learn about you? I am a peer volunteer with Spinal-Cord Injury Ontario. Either myself or as a couple with my wife, we meet with newly injured people. I truly enjoy giving back. Describe yourself in 3 words? I'll let my family pick the three words. Grumpy, organized, and devoted. If you weren’t playing tennis, what would you be doing? I often wonder what that would be. I would like to think it would be something sports related. Other than tennis, what are you most passionate about? Watching my kids play sports. I hate missing it. Even practices. It kills me when I have to miss something when I'm on the road.