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The Wheelchair Tennis Masters refers to a pair of end of year tennis events for wheelchair athletes held on an annual basis under the jurisdiction of the International Tennis Federation.
The Wheelchair Tennis Masters for singles [1] is an end-of-year wheelchair tennis tournament, broadly analogous to the ATP Tour and WTA Championship finals. Initiated in 1994 for men and women's singles, and 2004 for quad players (quad tennis being a mixed gender sport) both genders compete at the same event. [2]
The top eight players (men and women), and the top six quad players, are invited to the Masters. The ranking is based on their ranking after the US Open is played. The round robin format is comparable to that which operates at the ATP World Tour Finals and WTA Championships. The Masters is described as the official ITF year-end singles championship.
Separately, the Wheelchair Tennis Masters for doubles performs a similar function for men's, women's and quad doubles players. Initiated in 2000 (2003 for quad players), each year the top eight men’s pairings, top six women's pairings and top four quad pairings are accepted into the draw in which all three events follow a round-robin format. [3]
From 1994 until 1999 the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters took place in the Indoor Sport Centre in Eindhoven, Netherlands. From 2000 until 2005 the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters took place in Amersfoort, Netherlands. From 2006 through 2010, the singles tournament took place in the Frans Otten Stadium in Amsterdam. [4] The tournament was renamed the NEC Singles Masters in 2010, and moved to Mechelen, Belgium from 2011 to 2012. In 2013, the NEC Singles Masters took place at the Marguerite Tennis Pavilion in Mission Viejo, California. [1] From 2014 to 2016 the NEC Singles Masters were held in London, UK, while in 2017 the tournament moved to Loughborough, UK. From 2018 the Masters is held in Orlando, Florida. Esther Vergeer holds the record, having won 14 titles between 1998 and 2011, followed by David Wagner with 11.
Location | Year | Champion | Runner-up | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|
Amersfoort | 2004 | David Wagner | Bas van Erp | 6–2, 6–3 |
2005 | David Wagner | Nick Taylor | 6–2, 6–1 | |
Amsterdam | 2006 | Peter Norfolk | David Wagner | 6–2, 6–2 |
2007 | David Wagner | Johan Andersson | 6–1, 3–6, 6–2 | |
2008 | David Wagner | Peter Norfolk | 6–4, 6–1 | |
2009 | Peter Norfolk | David Wagner | 6–2, 7–5 | |
2010 | Peter Norfolk | David Wagner | 6–3, 7–6(7–3) | |
Mechelen | 2011 | Noam Gershony | Andrew Lapthorne | 0–6, 6–3, 7–5 |
2012 | David Wagner | Andrew Lapthorne | 6–4, 6–2 | |
Mission Viejo | 2013 | David Wagner | Lucas Sithole | 0–6, 6–2, 6–2 |
London [6] | 2014 | David Wagner | Dylan Alcott | 6–4, 7–5 |
2015 | David Wagner | Lucas Sithole | 7–6(8–6), 6–4 | |
2016 | David Wagner | Itay Erenlib | 6–4, 6–1 | |
Loughborough | 2017 | David Wagner | Andrew Lapthorne | 6–1, 6–2 |
Lake Nona | 2018 | Dylan Alcott | Andrew Lapthorne | 3–6, 7–5, 6–4 |
2019 | David Wagner | Niels Vink | 6–3, 6–4 | |
2020 | no competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||
2021 | Niels Vink | Sam Schroder | 6–4, 6–7, 4–6 | |
Netherlands | 2022 | Sam Schroder | Niels Vink | 6–3, 6–0 |
Barcelona | 2023 | Niels Vink | Sam Schroder | 6–4, 6–2 |
From 2000 until 2001 the Wheelchair Tennis Doubles Masters took place alongside the singles event in Amersfoort. From 2002 until 2003 the Wheelchair Tennis Doubles Masters took place at the Invacare World Team Cup by Camozzi in Tremosine, Italy. From 2003 until 2004 the Camozzi company became sponsor of this tournament and it took place in Brescia, Italy. Since 2005 the event took place in the Centro Sportivo Mario Mongodi close to Bergamo, Italy. In 2011 the title sponsorship was taken up by Invacare in a two-year deal and the 2011 tournament was held in the Frans Otten stadium in Amsterdam. From 2013 to 2016, the ITF Wheelchair Doubles Masters took place at the Marguerite Tennis Pavilion in Mission Viejo, California [7] In 2017 and 2018, the event took place in Bemmel, Netherlands. As of 2018, Taylor and Wagner are the most successful partnership across all categories, with a total of 11 titles. [8] [9]
Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designed wheelchairs, and the ball may bounce up to two times, where the second bounce may also occur outside the court.
Esther Mary Vergeer is a Dutch former professional wheelchair tennis player. Vergeer won 43 major titles, 23 year-end championships, and seven Paralympic gold medals. She was the world No. 1 in women's wheelchair singles from 1999 to her retirement in February 2013. Vergeer went undefeated in singles for ten straight years, ending her career on a winning streak of 470 matches. She has often been named the most dominant player in professional sports.
Shingo Kunieda is a Japanese former wheelchair tennis player. With four Paralympic gold medals, 28 major singles titles – an all-time record in singles of any tennis discipline – and 50 major titles overall, Kunieda is widely considered the greatest male wheelchair player of all time.
David Wagner is an American wheelchair tennis player. Paralyzed from the mid-chest down and with thirty percent function in his hands, he competes in the quad division. He plays by taping the tennis racket to his hand. He is currently ranked number three in the world in singles and number two in doubles.
The ITF Wheelchair Tennis Tour is a tennis tour for disabled men and women. There are three divisions: Men, Women, and Quad. The Quad division is a mixed-gender division, for players which have impairments in at least three limbs, and the competitors are allowed to use motorized wheelchairs. The tour was formed in 1992, comprising just 11 events. The tour now has over 150 events.
Jiske Griffioen is a Dutch professional wheelchair tennis player. Griffioen is a 20-time major champion, Paralympic gold medalist, seven-time Masters champion, and a former world No. 1. Alongside Aniek van Koot, Griffioen completed the Grand Slam in doubles in 2013. In singles, Griffioen is a three-time Masters champion, Paralympic gold medalist, four-time major champion, and a former world No. 1.
Sharon Walraven is a Dutch wheelchair tennis player. She became paraplegic at age 23 after complications following a fall while she was ice-skating. She has won seven Grand Slams doubles titles partnering compatriot Esther Vergeer. At the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing she won the gold medal in the women's doubles competition. At the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney she won a silver medal in the women's singles competition. Walraven has a highest ranking of No.2 in singles and No.1 in doubles.
Aniek van Koot is a Dutch wheelchair tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles.
Yui Kamiji is a Japanese professional wheelchair tennis player. She has won 28 major titles, as well as a Paralympic silver and bronze medal in singles and doubles, respectively, at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. She would later win gold in both at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. She also won a bronze medal in singles at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Lucas Sithole is a South African wheelchair tennis player. He plays in the Quad division of the sport. Sithole is the 2013 US Open wheelchair tennis quad champion. He also won the 2016 Australian Open Grand Slam in doubles, partnering David Wagner.
Nicholas Taylor is an American wheelchair tennis player. Nick started playing tennis at the age of 14. He has played 5 times in the Australian Open and 7 times in the US Open (tennis). He has a total of 11 grand slam quad doubles titles, all of them won with partner David Wagner. Taylor and Wagner are the most successful partnership to ever play at the UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters. They have won the title 11 times as of November 2018.
The 2017 Wheelchair Tennis Masters is a wheelchair tennis tournament played at the Loughborough University Tennis Centre in Loughborough, United Kingdom, from 29 November to 3 December 2017. It is the season-ending event for the highest-ranked wheelchair tennis singles players on the 2017 ITF Wheelchair Tennis Tour.
The 2017 Wheelchair Doubles Masters is a wheelchair tennis tournament played at the Sportcentrum de Schaapskooi in Bemmel, Netherlands, from 22 to 26 November 2017. It is the season-ending event for the highest-ranked wheelchair tennis doubles players on the 2017 ITF Wheelchair Tennis Tour.
The 2016 Wheelchair Tennis Masters is a wheelchair tennis tournament played at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, United Kingdom, from 30 November to 4 December 2016. It is the season-ending event for the highest-ranked wheelchair tennis singles players on the 2016 ITF Wheelchair Tennis Tour.
The 2016 Wheelchair Doubles Masters is a wheelchair tennis tournament played in Mission Viejo, California, United States, from 2 to 6 November 2016. It is the season-ending event for the highest-ranked wheelchair tennis doubles players on the 2016 ITF Wheelchair Tennis Tour.
Antony Cotterill and Andrew Lapthorne defeated the five-time defending champions Nick Taylor and David Wagner in the final, 7–5, 1–6, 6–4 to win the quad title at the 2016 Wheelchair Doubles Masters.
The 2018 Wheelchair Tennis Masters was a wheelchair tennis tournament played at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Orlando, Florida, United States, from 28 November to 2 December 2018. It is the season-ending event for the highest-ranked wheelchair tennis singles players on the 2018 ITF Wheelchair Tennis Tour.