*** For immediate use November 24, 2015

The ITF has invited eight men, eight women and four quad players based on the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Ranking of 5 October, after the completion of the Open de la Baie de Somme, the penultimate ITF 1 Series event of the season. The Wheelchair Tennis Masters was originally established in 1994 and has been sponsored by NEC since its inception.

Alongside the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters, each day of the tournament will also feature opportunities for schools and community groups to take part in a variety of tennis activities and to meet some of the players taking part in the tournament, as well watching them in action.

Forty pupils from the Japanese School in London will be guests of NEC on Wednesday, 2 December. They will have the opportunity to support the players on the first of three days of round-robin competition, meet some of the stars contesting the 2015 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters and have fun in the Activity Zone.

Mark Bullock, ITF Wheelchair Tennis Manager, said, "As the ITF's year-end singles championship, the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters is arguably the most competitive tournament of the year and requires our top ranked players to come through five days of intense competition against their biggest rivals in order to be crowned champion.  We look forward to another exciting tournament as the best in wheelchair tennis return to the venue that hosted the London 2012 Paralympic Tennis Event."

Wheelchair tennis traces its beginnings to California, USA, in 1976 and has since spread across the globe. In 1992, the ITF created a tour for players, the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour, and ran 21 tournaments in 13 countries. In 1994, the ITF launched the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters as the most prestigious event on the Tour. Today, NEC remains an Official Partner of the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour, which included more than 140 tournaments in over 40 countries this year, as well as title sponsor of the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters.

The daily schedule for the 2015 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters is as follows:

Wednesday 2nd to Friday 4th December:
11am Play starts for round-robin matches, with one match each day not before 3.30pm.

Saturday 5th December:
11am Play starts
       Men's and Women's Semi-Finals
       Men's and Women's 5th/6th and 7th/8th place play-offs

Sunday 6th December:
9.30am Play starts (subject to change)
       Men's and Women's 3rd/4th play-offs
From 1pm
       Men's, Women's and Quad Finals

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About the International Tennis Federation
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the world governing body of tennis, one of the few truly global sports. The objective of the ITF is to further grow and develop the sport worldwide; to develop the game at all levels at all ages for both able-bodied and disabled men and women; to make, amend and uphold the rules of the game, to promote the International Team Championships and competitions of the ITF; to preserve the integrity and independence of tennis as a sport; and to perform all without discrimination on grounds of colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, age, sex or religion.

The ITF has 210 member National Associations - more than most other international sporting federations. Member nations come from every continent, and each association is involved in organising tennis and promoting the interests of the game.


About NEC Corporation
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