Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/560492
24 ITFWORLD SUMMER 2015 ALFIE HEWETT (GBR) GUSTAVO FERNANDEZ (ARG) DAVID WAGNER (USA) SIX OF THE BEST IN WHEELCHAIR F ernandez reached his first two Grand Slam singles finals at the Australian Open and US Open in 2014. He lost both times to Shingo Kunieda, but got closer than anyone to ending the world No. 1's sequence of titles at majors when he had match points against him in their 2014 Roland Garros semifinal. Fernandez, now 21, took eventual champion Kunieda to three sets at the Aussie Open again this year, before losing in the semifinals. So far in 2015 he's won tour singles titles in Rotterdam and Madrid, and he captured the Wimbledon doubles title with Nicolas Peifer. With South America hosting the Paralympics for the first time in 2016, the Argentine could be one of the stars of the Rio Games. Fernandez went into the 2012 London Paralympics as one of the sports brightest young prospects, beating three of the world's top four players in the build-up, but his London medal quest ended in a three- set quarterfinal loss to eventual silver medallist Stephane Houdet. S ince winning the first of three Cruyff Foundation Junior Masters titles aged just 14 in 2012, Hewett has continued to grow in stature and reputation. Now 17 years old and the junior world No. 1, in the last year Hewett has beaten a number of Top 10-ranked senior opponents, starting with Nicolas Peifer of France at last October's ITF 1 Series Open de la Baie de Somme. Hewett continues to play with a fearless quality that makes him a difficult opponent for many of his older and higher-ranked peers. In May this year Hewett won his first ITF 2 Series singles title at the wheelchair event that takes place alongside the Rome Masters, when Dutchman Tom Egberink became another Top 10 player to fall to the Brit. Hewett was a key part of Great Britain's historic first men's World Group title at the recent BNP Paribas World Team Cup, going undefeated in all his singles and doubles rubbers on his senior debut in the event. A lready one of wheelchair tennis's most decorated players, Wagner faces arguably the most important 13 months of his career as he hunts for the one major prize to elude him — a Paralympic quad singles gold medal to go with his three doubles golds. At the 2014 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters, one of 20 posters designed for each of the players taking part billed the 41-year-old Wagner as a 'Master Tactician', a description he lived up to when beating Dylan Alcott in straight sets to win his seventh NEC Masters quad title. The result reversed a straight-sets loss to the Australian in the round- robin phase of the competition, and their rivalry has grown even more intense in 2015, with Alcott overtaking Wagner at the top of the quad singles rankings in June. The American will likely need to get past Alcott again as he bids for a third US Open title in September. WHEELCHAIR TENNIS