The British Tennis Foundation and The All England Lawn Tennis Club are delighted to announce that some of the world’s leading wheelchair players will compete for record prize money in the men’s international Wheelchair Tennis Doubles tournament to be held at The Championships, Wimbledon, which will take place for the third year over the finals weekend of Saturday, 7 and Sunday, 8 July.

Eight of the world’s top 10 ranked men’s doubles wheelchair players, including both previous winning partnerships, are among the field for the Wimbledon Masters Series, an event sanctioned by the ITF as part of the global NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour, offering vital ranking points and a total prize purse of £12,000.

Defending champions Shingo Kunieda (JPN) and Satoshi Saida (JPN) return to The Championships after defeating 2005 champions Jayant Mistry (GBR) and Michael Jeremiasz (FRA) in a final played out in front of packed stands on Championships Court 3 last year.

Kunieda and Saida are the reigning Paralympic Men’s Doubles Gold Medallists and recently combined to lead Japan to a second Men’s title at the World Team Cup, the Davis and Fed Cups of wheelchair tennis.

While Kunieda is the current World No1 ranked Men’s Singles and Men’s Doubles player, the field also includes the 2006 ITF Wheelchair Tennis World Champion, Robin Ammerlaan (NED).

Set to be second seeds behind Kunieda and Saida for this year’s Wimbledon Wheelchair Doubles Masters Series is the all-Dutch partnership of Ammerlaan and Ronald Vink. Both Ammerlaan, the 2006 ITF Wheelchair Tennis World Champion (year-end No 1) and Vink have been semi-finalists at The Championships during the last two years with different partners, and while they have winning form as a pairing elsewhere on the international stage, they will be hoping that their first-time partnership on the grass at The Championships this year can pay dividends.

Trying to upset current form are Martin Legner (AUT) and Maikel Scheffers (NED) and last year’s pairing of Tadeusz Kruszelnicki (POL) and Miroslav Brychta (Czech Rep).

A former World No 1 Doubles player and multiple Wheelchair Tennis Doubles Masters champion, Legner will partner Dutchman Maikel Scheffers this year. Scheffers was a semi-finalist at The Championships in 2005, when partnered by Vink, and he and Vink are the reigning Wheelchair Tennis Doubles Masters Champions, having won that title in October last year. However, with different partners this year both will be aiming to improve upon their last previous visit to The Championships.

Kruszelnicki and Brychta have gained their place following the withdrawal through injury of Jeremiasz and Mistry, who are disappointed not to be able to try and regain the title they won in 2005.

The semi-finals for this year’s wheelchair tennis event will take place on Saturday 7 July, with the Final and 3rd place play-off on Sunday 8 July.

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The British Tennis Foundation (BTF) is a registered charity that works closely with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and has a Disabilities Tennis Programme at the forefront of its remit. This includes the development and promotion of Wheelchair Tennis, Deaf Tennis and Tennis for People with Learning Disability.

Written by AELTC