Dana was diagnosed with rare autoimmune disease, transverse myelitis, at the age of 10, which led her to use a wheelchair for mobility. While he was in the hospital, his mother took the initiative to explore the adaptive sports that Dana can try. Dana, first, experienced rugby and basketball, but when he tried tennis, anything click. It was like a better adjustment.

A vital impediment to all tennis, adaptive and valid players is the monetary charge of supporting a professional career. Although classified more productive athletes can work well, many others have problems doing everything they spend. The prices of the coaches and other expenses are high. For Dana, it was a difficult burden to succeed when her professional career began. Tennis professionals go from 20 to 30 weeks along the way every year, which can be traced and requires significant sacrifices, adding time far from those enjoyed. Its source of income largely depends on daily performance.

A moment of immense gratitude and achievement for Dana occurred in the Wimbledon 2022 championship, where he won the double name with Yui Kamiji. As oppressed, Dana faced a difficult war in terms of classification. She entered the adjustment with an undeniable objective: play well. After winning the first 6-1 set, Dana began to feel a feeling of pride and emotion, knowing that the name was at hand. Dana and Yui won the name 6-1, 7-5, surpassing the very classified duplicate team of Diede de Groot and Aniek Van Koot. Thinking at that time, Dana said: “I didn’t know when we won that he would be the first American wheelchair tennis player to win a primary. ” Winning a main name, especially double, is something special for Dana.

In 2023, Santiago for Pan American Games, Dana was selected to be the popular carrier of the US team, a role that described as “one of the most great things and the greatest honors” of his life. Having lost in the past at the Pan American Games in 2019, Dana decided to obtain a greater result in Santiago. In the last game, Dana faced a formidable opponent in the Colombian Angélica Bernal. Pushing the game, Dana gave everything, winning the name 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Subsequently, it fell into tears of joy, detecting the scope of the demanding situations that had triumphed to succeed at this point.

At the end of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Dana focuses on his procedure than the result. “Everyone can say that he needs a gold medal; of course, we all need it, and I am not an exception. I need to be on the podium. But I think more than anything, I just need to compete. When I compete well, intelligent things happen regularly,” Dana said. He is preparing for intelligent fortune through the creation of small realistic objectives than giants and highs, because those attainable objectives are more productive for it as anxhalet. Before her games, she remembers “competing well, having confidence, be brave. ” Although Dana appreciates the competitive results, he now focuses on the game that in the undeniable victory. “Playing well is a victory,” she says. “If I present myself and take a photo as planned, it is a victory. “

Dana emphasizes working hard, loving the game, and maintaining her own definition of success, rather than burning out by tying her confidence solely to wins and losses. In general, athletes are judged harshly on their performance, and the pressure can take a toll on consistency and quality. In American culture especially, the mentality of working hard and being as productive as possible at all times often overlooks the importance of rest and self-defined success. Dana exemplifies a professional athlete who has chosen to dictate her own path to high performance, valuing rest and defining achievements on her own terms.

At the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, Dana takes pride in the opportunity to represent Team USA and hopes to raise awareness that wheelchair tennis, and all adaptive athletes deserve the same attention and support as their able-bodied counterparts. “I am an athlete, one in the same as someone who is playing tennis on their feet. It looks different, of course, but once you really watch it, the strategy is almost identical, and the rules are the same.” Dana hopes to be an ambassador for wheelchair tennis, prioritizing respect and equity so that future generations of athletes like herself receive the same recognition as able-bodied athletes. “I’ve seen the excitement of wheelchair tennis around the world. I hope the upcoming LA 2028 is a catalyst for change, and we’ll see more excitement for Team USA in the Paralympics. Team USA is Team USA, regardless if you represent the Olympic rings or the Agitos Paralympic symbol; we are the same team and deserve the same support.”