ITF

BELGIUM'S JOACHIM GERARD, DIEDE DE GROOT OF THE NETHERLANDS AND AMERICAN DAVID WAGNER ARE NO strangers to silverware and their haul of titles was boosted further by success at the NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters in November. Success at the ITF's year-end championships was the perfect way for the trio to bring down the curtain on their campaigns as the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour came to a swashbuckling conclusion. While their focus is now firmly fixed on 2020, Gerard, De Groot and Wagner head into the new campaign with the memories of their trophy-winning exploits at the USTA National Campus in Orlando fresh in their minds. Gerard, who remains without a Grand Slam singles title on his career CV, once again topped the podium by overcoming Great Britain's Alfie Hewett in the men's final – his fourth NEC Masters singles title in five years. World No.1 De Groot beat Yui Kamiji, who remains the only non-Dutch player to have been crowned an NEC Masters women's singles champion, in the women's final for the third successive year. A day earlier, De Groot, a three-time Grand Slam singles winner in 2019, teamed up with compatriot Aniek van Koot to seal the top women's prize at the UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters. Wagner, meanwhile, shrugged off two previous defeats to teenager Niels Vink this season to secure his 11th NEC Masters quad title since 2005. Vink, 16, was bidding to become the youngest champion in the 26-year history of the competition. Vink did not leave Florida empty-handed, however, as he and Australia's Heath Davidson overpowered Kyu-Seung Kim of Korea, Rep. and Japan's Koji Sugeno in the quad final of the Doubles Masters. The other victors were French duo Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer, who lifted silverware in the men's doubles after dispatching Gerard and Sweden's Stefan Olsson in the final. n For a full breakdown of results from the NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters and UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters, visit www.itftennis.com/wheelchair ITFWorld // WINTER 2019/20 39 Van Koot and De Groot were imperious in the women's doubles The men's doubles was won by Houdet and Peifer Davidson and Vink with their quad doubles trophies Shingo Kunieda in action at the USTA National Campus De Groot enjoyed both singles and doubles joy in Orlando

• Cover