NEC Sponsors 2012 Wimbledon Wheelchair Doubles Event- Part of the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour -

Wimbledon Wheelchair Doubles Event http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/index.html The 2012 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour http://beta.itftennis.com/wheelchair/tournaments/circuit-info.aspx NEC Wheelchair Tennis http://www.nec.co.jp/community/ja/div/wheelchair-tennis.html

*** ***For immediate use July 3, 2012


Tokyo, July 3, 2012 - NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) announced today that 16 of the world's top wheelchair tennis players will participate in the 2012 Wimbledon Wheelchair Doubles Event in London on 6-8 July. Four men's doubles and four women's doubles pairs will compete in the event, which is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments on the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour (*1).

<<Fact sheet>>

Event Name:	Wimbledon Wheelchair Doubles Event
Period:	6-8 July, 2012
Venue:	The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London, Great Britain
Organiser:	The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club

The men's doubles event is led by two-time Wimbledon champions Ronald Vink and Robin Ammerlaan of the Netherlands, with Vink defending the title he won with Maikel Scheffers last year.  Also taking part are US Open champions Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer of France, and Doubles Masters champions Michael Jeremiasz of France and Tom Egberink of the Netherlands.

The women's doubles features all eight players who competed in the event in 2011, although 2012 Roland Garros champions Esther Vergeer and Marjolein Buis of the Netherlands play together here for the first time. Another Dutch player Sharon Walraven, who partnered with Vergeer to victory in 2011, plays with Belgium's Annick Sevenans; while the field also includes last year's runners-up Aniek van Koot and Jiske Griffioen also of the Netherlands.

For the first time there will be two all-British pairs in the event after Gordon Reid and Marc McCarroll, and Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley were awarded a wild card into the men's and women's draws respectively.

The NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour, organized by the ITF and sponsored by NEC, has one of the most advanced and far-reaching tournament calendars and ranking systems in international disability sport. The Tour includes wheelchair tennis events at all four Grand Slams, with total prize money of more than one million US dollars.

The 2012 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour started on January 5, 2012, with the Queensland Open in Australia. This year, the NEC Tour consists of 173 tournaments in 45 countries.

The NEC Wheelchair Tennis Rankings are updated weekly by the ITF, with over 600 men and 200 women from more than 50 countries featured on the current wheelchair world rankings.

The NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour has events at a variety of levels, from the ITF Futures Series through to the four Grand Slam events.
 
The NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour is part of the NEC Make-a-Difference Drive (*2) of volunteer opportunities for NEC employees. NEC members volunteer for the Tour in such positions as linespeople, ballpersons and interpreters.

Looking forward, NEC will continue to develop its role in the Wheelchair Tennis Tour as part of becoming a leading global company that leverages the power of innovation to realize an information society friendly to people and the earth.