The Statoil Masters Tennis tournament has added stars of the Special Olympics and two of the best wheelchair players in the world to its evening schedules of matches at the Royal Albert Hall on the 3rd and 4th December respectively.
On Wednesday December 3rd, Peter Millar (No 4 in the INAS World Rankings) will take on Thomas Mellor (No 2 in the INAS World Rankings) in a Special Olympics exhibition to encourage more people with learning disabilities to start playing tennis. On Thursday night, the history-making Jordanne Whiley will take on World No.3 Gordon Reid to showcase the fantastic sport of wheelchair tennis. Both exhibitions will take place at 7pm, before the Statoil Masters Tennis matches start at 7.30pm.
Earlier this year, 22 year-old Whiley became the first ever British tennis player to win the calendar Grand Slam as she claimed the women’s doubles titles at all four Grand Slam tournaments with Japanese partner Yui Kamiji. She also made history in 2012 when she became the first British woman to win a wheelchair tennis medal at the Paralympic Games when she took bronze with Lucy Shuker at London 2012.
Reid, 23, has just been voted Tennis Scotland’s International Player of the Year ahead of Andy Murray after claiming 5 singles and 4 doubles titles in 2014. World No.6 Whiley said:
“With the help of the Tennis Foundation and the success of British players this year, the profile of wheelchair tennis is growing bigger and bigger and it’s brilliant to be able to showcase our sport to a new audience. Playing in front of a packed crowd, especially at such an amazing venue like the Royal Albert Hall, is always exciting and both Gordon and I are really looking forward to it.”
Andrew Castle, an ambassador for Wheelchair Tennis, said:
“Wheelchair tennis is tennis. It is a demanding test of strength, will and technique whether in a chair or not. I love watching the legends of wheelchair tennis play and I’m sure you will too.”
Chris Hull, Communications Director of Special Olympics Great Britain, said: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Peter and Thomas to be on the same sporting bill as three-time former Wimbledon Champion John McEnroe, former US Open Champion Andy Roddick, former Great Britain Davis Cup stalwarts Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski and trick-shot artist Mansour Bahrami, amongst many others. This will give them huge amounts of confidence going forward in their own sporting pursuits.”
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