The top eight men, eight women and six quad players have qualified to play at the 2018 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters based on the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Rankings of October 15.

The Wheelchair Tennis Masters was originally established in 1994 and has been sponsored by NEC since its inception. As part of celebrating 25 years of sponsorship of the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters, NEC Corporation will be donating a series of competition-ready wheelchairs to the ITF.

These wheelchairs will be provided to athletes in developing markets, where access to such specialized equipment is limited, and will therefore aid the ITF's development programme, which aims to help raise the level of wheelchair tennis worldwide. A number of players who have benefitted from the ITFs development programme have gone on to compete in the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters.　

David Haggerty, ITF President, said, "As the ITF's year-end wheelchair championship, the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters is arguably the most competitive tournament of the year as the top ranked players face their biggest rivals over five days of intense competition to decide the titles. After four tremendous years in Great Britain we are extremely excited to bring this highly prestigious wheelchair singles championship to the United States and to introduce the sport to a new public."

Takashi Niino, President and CEO of NEC Corporation said, "NEC is a proud developer of advanced technologies that contribute to society on a global scale and support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recently adopted by the United Nations for achieving a better and more sustainable future for all. As sponsor of the NEC Masters for 25 years, we look forward to this exciting tournament once again, which in addition to thrilling championship tennis, also provides an excellent opportunity for the community to discover and engage in an inclusive sport."

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, which consisted of 11 international tournaments. Wheelchair Tennis has also been a full medal sport at the Paralympic Games since 1992. It is still today one of the fastest growing wheelchair sports in the world, both in size and popularity, featuring currently over 160 events worldwide each year. In 1994, the ITF launched the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters as the supreme year-end challenge of the Tour.

Today, NEC is the title sponsor of the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters and an Official Partner of the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour. NEC celebrates 27 years of partnership with the ITF this year.

The daily schedule for the 2018 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters is as follows:

Wednesday, November 28th to Friday 30th:
10.30am Play starts for round-robin matches (subject to change)

Saturday, December 1st:
11.30am Play starts for Men's, Women's & Quad Semis (subject to change)

Sunday, December 2nd:
9.30am Play starts for Playoffs. Finals from 10.30am (subject to change)

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