ITF

The NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters will be held this year at the USTA National Campus at Lake Nona, Orlando, Florida, for the first time. The ITF's official year-end singles championship on the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour will take place from 28 November to 2 December. This will be the second time in six years that the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters, which features the top eight men, top eight women and top six quad players, has been held in the USA after Mission Viejo, California, staged the prestigious event in 2013. The tournament has been hosted in Great Britain for the last four years. ITF President David Haggerty said, "Since opening in 2017 this superb facility has already hosted several other ITF events and I'm sure that the 2018 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters will be another tremendous occasion, not least because the ITF's year-end wheelchair tennis championship is celebrating its 25th year." The BNP Paribas World Team Cup will be staged in Israel for the first time next year, with the Israel Tennis Association announced as hosts of the 2019 edition of wheelchair tennis's flagship team event. The tournament will be held at the Larry and Mary Greenspon Israel Tennis Centre in Ramat Hasharon on 13-18 May. Often referred to as the Davis and Fed Cups of wheelchair tennis, the first staging of the BNP Paribas World Team Cup took place in California in 1985 with six men's teams. The women's competition began the following year, with quad and junior events introduced in 1998 and 2000 respectively. Over 100 teams from around 50 countries take part in the competition annually, and regional qualifying is held for the men's and women's events. Israel is one of just a few nations to have a men's team play in the BNP Paribas World Team Cup finals on at least 30 occasions, and is a four-time winner of the quad title. Noam Gershony won the gold medal in quad singles at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, while fellow Israelis Boaz Kramer and Shraga Weinberg are also Paralympic quad doubles medallists. "The ITF is delighted that the BNP Paribas World Team Cup will be staged in Israel for the first time," said ITF President David Haggerty. "Israel has a long and successful history in wheelchair tennis and has produced some of the sport's most successful players in the quad division. The World Team Cup is the most prestigious team competition on the ITF's wheelchair tennis calendar, and we are pleased to see its continued evolution and global reach." ITF INTRODUCES CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION PLACES FOR TOKYO 2020 USTA National Campus to stage NEC Masters The ITF has announced the introduction of six Continental Qualification places for both the men's and women's singles events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Tennis Event. The new qualification places have been approved by the IOC Executive Board as part of the Tokyo 2020 Qualification System for tennis. The 2020 Olympic Tennis Event will again feature five disciplines: men's singles and doubles, women's singles and doubles, and mixed doubles. Each singles draw will comprise 64 players, with a maximum of four players per nation. There will be 56 direct acceptances as at previous Games, and eight ITF places, including the six Continental Qualification places. For the first time in Olympic history, players will have a chance to earn their place in the Olympic Tennis Event through success at one of the regional multi-sport games, including the 2018 Asian Games and 2019 African and Pan American Games. In addition, one place will be awarded to the highest-ranked man and woman in both Europe and Oceania from a country not yet represented in singles. More details can be found at www.itftennis.com/olympics ROUND-UP NEWS S P R I N G 2 0 1 8 N E W S 36 ITFWorld // SPRING 2018 ISRAEL TO HOST 2019 BNP PARIBAS WORLD TEAM CUP

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