Ellie Robertson: Wheelchair champion on competing for Scotland, Grand Slams, and Division One US college tennis
• 4 minute read
Scottish wheelchair tennis player Ellie Robertson has enjoyed a promising start to her career, winning titles on the World Tennis Tour (WTT), competing at the US Open and representing her country.
Having now secured a scholarship at The University of Alabama in Division One of the US college circuit, she caught up with Thomas McCaffrey to share her story and her hopes and dreams for the future.
Getting started
21-year-old Ellie’s career started in the same way as many Scottish wheelchair tennis players - by attending weekly group sessions run by Glasgow Disability Tennis at Scotstoun.
Reflecting on her first impression of playing tennis, Ellie said: “I was always active growing up. My mum found out about the Scotstoun sessions, and I went to try that out. Since that first session, I just never looked back.
“I went every week and I was always the youngest there, but that was good because it gave me something to work towards.”
The weekly sessions also gave Ellie the opportunity to play sport with her able-bodied friends thanks to the group making spare chairs available.
“My friends would be going to different clubs and, obviously, I couldn't really join in to the full extent,” she recalled. “Tennis gave me time where I was being active, and they would sometimes come along because they could get in a chair and do it with me, so that was also fun.”
Straight in at the deep end
Ellie’s potential was recognised quickly, and it wasn’t long before she was pulling on a Scotland top to represent her country at the 2016 UK School Games at the University of Loughborough, battling her nerves to compete in the national team alongside Ruari Logan, Leo MacLeod and Jade McGoldrick.
“It was massive,” Ellie said. “To put the Scotland top on when you're young is scary, but I just felt proud because I hadn't been playing that long and I'd been selected already. Also, there was a team and the experience was amazing.”
Scotland training camps and competing on home soil
Ellie began to attend training camps organised by Tennis Scotland, allowing her to develop her game and play alongside her teammates under the guidance of our performance team.
“It would be a lot of players from all over Scotland,” she recalled. “I think that was just what was needed, and it really pushed me and showed me the level I needed to get to.”
With the support of coaches and her friends and family, Ellie decided to try playing tennis professionally, and in 2020 began competing on the World Tennis Tour (formerly ITF). To say her rise has been impressive would be an understatement. Having finished her first year on tour ranked 36 in juniors, Ellie rose 28 places in the following two years and made her Grand Slam debut at the 2022 US Open Wheelchair Tennis Junior competition.
Since then, she has moved onto the senior tour and broke into the top 70 in the singles rankings in 2025. But while her success on the pro tour shows her continuous development and her fierce drive, she said winning the annual Scotland Wheelchair Tennis Tournament at Scotstoun trumped her WTT success.
“National tournaments were really big growing up, and it was always a goal to win that tournament,” she said. “I didn't win it the first two years, and I remember going home quite upset. I eventually managed to win one year after a three-setter and a match tie-break, and the feeling was so good.”
Going Stateside
After making a name for herself on the WTT, Ellie has now moved to Alabama to study Kinesiology and play Division One wheelchair tennis, the highest level on the US college circuit.
But back when she began to play, going to university wasn’t something she even entertained. A conversation with a scout at the US Open changed all that.
“I just never imagined university in my life,” she said. “I never really liked school growing up, but as the years went by, I realised it would be a good opportunity to get a degree and have the bonus of training and competing full-time as a Division One athlete.”
Looking to the future
Ellie is looking forward to embracing the university experience as well as progressing her pro tennis career.
“I think my main goal alongside getting the degree is just continuing to build my tennis ranking through WTT tournaments,” she said. “That’s definitely the main thing. I'm not going to set myself any massive goals like top 10 - I'm just going to see where results take me and hopefully, one day, I'll make the main draw of a Grand Slam.”
As they say at The University of Alabama, “Roll Tide, Ellie”.
