25/05/15
Great Britain’s women start their BNP Paribas World Team Cup campaign on Tuesday, hoping to post a first Great Britain victory after a difficult opening day for the quad and junior teams.
Jamie Burdekin kept reigning champions Great Britain in their first pool tie against Italy in the quad event with a battling 6-3, 6-4 win over Alberto Corradi, after Antony Cotterill had to withdraw following the first set of his opening singles rubber due to injury. However, Burdekin and James Shaw were unable to match Corradi and Marco Innocenti in the doubles and the Italians won 6-2, 6-0 to claim the tie 2-1.
Great Britain’s quads face South Africa in the second of their three pool ties.
Great Britain’s juniors also had a tough opening to their three pool ties after USA won both singles rubbers. The USA’s more experienced Conner Stroud beat World Team Cup debutant Ruairi Logan 6-0, 6-0 before Chris Herman also beat Luz Esperanza Merry 6-0, 6-0. Josh Copper partnered Merry as British fortunes improved in the doubles rubber, but the USA still clinched another won 6-2, 6-0. Great Britain juniors will now play Switzerland in the second of their round-robin ties.
The trio of Louise Hunt, Lucy Shaker and Jordanne Whiley start their quest to reach a fourth women’s World Group final against Australia, while Great Britain’s men, top seeds for their World Group of 12 nations, play their opening tie on Wednesday.
19/05/15
Geraint Richards, the Tennis Foundation’s Head of Disability Player Performance, today announced his players selected to represent Great Britain in the BNP Paribas World Team Cup in Antalya, Turkey from 25 - 31 May 2015.
Great Britain will be competing in the highest tiers across the competition at the International Tennis Federation’s flagship wheelchair tennis event.
Men’s World Group – captained by Karen Ross
Women’s World Group – captained by Kevin Simpson
Quad Event – captained by Stuart Wilkinson
Junior Event – captained by Ash Smith
Great Britain won three medals at the 2014 BNP Paribas World Team Cup in Alphen, the Netherlands, including the gold medal in the quad event; the silver medal in the women’s event and a bronze medal in the men’s event; Britain's first podium finish in the men’s competition since 1989.
"Last year's victory over the USA in the deciding doubles of the final will always be one of the most special moments of my career after also being a member of the GB team that won the quad title on home soil in Nottingham in 2009," said Burdekin. "We are defending champions and know that retaining the title provides us with a big challenge, but, as always, we will the meet that challenge head on and take it one tie at a time."
Great Brtiain are second seeds for the quad event this year and play Italy, Israel and South Africa in the round-robin phase of the ccompetition.
Jordanne Whiley and Gordon Reid again lead Great Britain's teams in the men's and women's competitions after both winning doubles titles over the weekend at the Japan Open Super Series in Iizuka.
"It's always a privilege to play for my country and there should be a great atmosphere in Turkey once again," said Whiley. "I'm really excited for the week and after winning silver for the last two years we'll be aiming for gold this time."
Great Britain's women are fourth seeds for the women's World Group in 2015 and start their channge for medals in a round-robin pool that also includes Australia and the USA.
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Alfie Hewett makes his senior Great Britain debut in the men's event two years after leading Britain to win the gold medal in the junior event in Turkey.
"I'm really excited to have been selected to make my senior debut after such great memories from Antalya two years ago and then missing last year's event due to exams. We have a really strong squad and if we all play to our potential I believe we can certainly win the gold," said Hewett, who goes into the event in tremendous form after winning his first ITF 2 men's singles title in Rome over the weekend, beating Dutch world No.9 Tom Egberink.
Great Britain start the men's World Group as top seeds and face Argentina and Belgium in a tough round-robin pool.
The Great Britain junior team includes 17-year-old Josh Cooper, who had only had a couple of wheelchair tennis lessons before his potential was identified during the Tennis Foundation's Ticket2Tokyo talent initiative in 2014 to find wheelchair tennis stars of the future.
The Great Britain junior team are seventh seeds and start their week in a round-robin pool alongside the USA, Argentia and Switzerland.
Geraint Richards commented, “Great Britain enjoyed their most successful World Team Cup last year winning three medals, including gold in the quad event, and has a long history of medal-winning performances.
“This year we have selected the strongest team available which includes a blend of youth and experience, including calendar Grand Slam doubles champion Jordanne Whiley, previous World Team Cup quad gold medallists Jamie Burdekin and Antony Cotterill and three-time Junior Masters champion and world No. 1 Alfie Hewett, and I’m sure they will all do Britain proud as we get further along our journey to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.”
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